Fight the Future
by Priestess of Dan
Summary: It is a rainy day the summer after their fifth year, and James, Sirius, and Remus are stuck inside James's bedroom. Remus is about to slap Sirius across the face when there is a loud crack, and seven books appear on James's desk. [M&P&P read HP] CS in progress.
1. The Boy Who Lived

I don't own _Harry Potter_. Less than 30% (the legal limit) of the content of this story contains copyrighted material.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Boy-Who-Lived<strong>

It had rained all morning, and Remus eyed his friends with growing trepidation. His parents hadn't been happy when he asked to go to the Potters' for a fortnight's visit, but they had agreed in spite of their concerns. They were too happy that their son had friends – friends who knew he was a werewolf and didn't care – to resist when one of them invited him to his home, and James had intentionally chosen the time of the month when even Lyall Lupin couldn't find a reason why a werewolf shouldn't be "overexcited" or "kept away from his mum and his dad, who love him so very much".

It still made Remus grin to think that James had once called Mrs Pettigrew "overprotective". Mrs Pettigrew had nothing on Lyall and Hope Lupin.

His parents had no idea that they _ought _to be worried, of course. The letters Professor McGonagall sent home about his misbehaviour were usually cause for celebration in his parents' house because Remus had _friends_ and he was _mischievous_ and _full of boyish energy_. His dad crowed over news of however many lost points – "Bettering the chances that Ravenclaw will win, are you, my lad?" he usually asked –, and Hope only asked if the students they duelled or pranked were alright. Remus lied every time and said yes.

They didn't know that James and Sirius were _destructive_ when they were bored, but Remus did. He hoped Mrs Potter wasn't terribly upset with them when they blew up the broomshed or whatever ended up a sacrifice to the God of Youthful High Spirits. Mr Potter wouldn't be. He claimed that he got bored writing articles for _The Practical Potioneer_, day in and day out, so an explosion now and then was probably welcome.

Remus hoped so at least.

"I wish we could go flying," James whinged. Sorry, "stated with extreme maturity".

Sirius rolled his eyes. He looked on the verge of one of his Moods. "So you've said, mate."

"There has to be something we can do," Remus said before Something Happened. "We can start a game of chess – or Exploding Snap."

James shrugged. He wasn't one for stationary hobbies unless they had some sort of payoff. Sirius continued to lounge listlessly, and Remus wanted to smack him across the face.

_Crack!_

Remus glanced at his right hand. No, it was still halfway across the room from Sirius's face. Same with his left hand, which he doubted he would use like that anyway.

James was the one who jumped to his feet and walked over to his desk, which was buried under a pile of notes about the map they intended to make next year. Seven rather large books lay on top of their notes, and James picked up the first one.

"_Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_," he read aloud, and his eyebrows rose. "I don't know a Harry Potter, do I? Besides my grandfather, that is, and he died years before I was born. My dad and I are the last of the magical Potters, now."

Remus remembered how amused James and Sirius had been, their first year, when they realised that they were related by marriage. James's uncle Charlus and Sirius's great-aunt Dorea had married, so they had a cousin in common: Magnus, who neither of them had ever met because he was forty years their senior and because he had been killed during the Grindelwald War. Charlus and Dorea Potter had themselves been present a few months ago when Diagon Alley was attacked by Death Eaters, and Charlus had died while Dorea had been injured. She was currently in St Mungo's, and Mr and Mrs Potter visited her once a week and returned, murmuring about "poor Dory." She wouldn't last much longer.

"You'd be the one to know," Sirius said in a tone that effortlessly combined irritation, amusement, and curiosity. "What's that?"

There was a piece of parchment attached to the back with a weak Sticking Charm. James pulled it off and read: "'M&P&P – I think this may come in useful. Sincerely, E.R.L.'"

"E.R.L.?" Sirius asked. His nose wrinkled as he thought. "That could be anybody."

"Elvendork Remus Lupin," James suggested with a grin.

Remus threw a pillow at him. "Of all the names to suggest – Ernest! Edward! Elijah!"

"_Definitely_ Elvendork," Sirius said like he hadn't heard Remus at all. "Is there anything else?"

"Summary on the back," James said. He read: "'Harry Potter is an ordinary boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's house, which he thinks is normal for someone like him whose parents have been killed in a 'car crash'. He is bullied by them and his fat, spoilt cousin Dudley, and lives a very unremarkable life with only the odd hiccup (like his hair growing back overnight!) to cause him much to think about. That is until an owl turns up with a letter addressed to Harry and all hell breaks loose! He is literally rescued by a world where nothing is as it seems and magic lessons are the order of the day. Read and find out how Harry discovers his true heritage at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the reason behind his parents' mysterious deaths, who is out to kill him, and how he uncovers the most amazing secret of all time, the fabled Philosopher's Stone! All this and muggles too. Now, what are they?'"

Sirius scoffed. "Who doesn't know what muggles are?"

"Muggles and muggle-borns," Remus answered curtly. "There are thousands of muggle Potters, if not millions. It's a rather common surname."

"Do muggles usually lock their orphaned nephews up in cupboards?"

Sirius seemed _speculative_. Remus too well that it was better not to ask too much about Sirius's life outside of Hogwarts before he came to live with the Potters.

"Only abusive ones," Remus said.

His mum and her brother didn't talk too much nowadays, mainly because Hope couldn't tell Uncle David anything about her life without breaking the Statute of Secrecy, but he didn't doubt that Uncle David and Aunt Gwyneth would take him in and treat him well should something happened to his mum and dad. Remus knew he would have to refuse, though. They didn't deserve _that._

"The more important question is, who doesn't know about the Philosopher's Stone?" Remus asked. "Even muggles know. It predates the Statute of Secrecy."

His friends only shrugged. James said, "He's an eleven-year-old muggle-born. He's allowed to be a little ignorant."

"I don't think that he's a muggle-born, though," Sirius said. He took the book from James. "Here it says he discovers his 'true heritage' and the truth behind his 'parents' mysterious deaths'. And someone's at Hogwarts who wants him dead. – God knows why they want an eleven-year-old _dead_. – It sounds like he's wizard-born, but he was brought up by his muggle aunt and uncle for some reason."

"That's what I don't understand," James said, "if his mum and dad are magical, then why don't his aunt and uncle know he's a wizard? If they did, then they wouldn't treat him badly. Accidental magical can be very dangerous. I know a girl – Constance Fawley – who turned her sister's hair to snakes once because Alice was _teasing_ her some. I can't imagine what Constance would have done if someone tried to keep her locked in a cupboard."

"Some people have more powerful accidental magic than others. Others have more control. It's all random, and it has nothing to do with their power as an adult," Remus said. He wondered if he sounded a bit like a professor because he felt like it. "Though kids usually do react more violently to threats. If Harry isn't, then I think it's likely because, well, what they do to him has become _normal_ to him over time."

Sirius hissed sharply. James grimaced.

Remus took the book from Sirius. He glanced at the cover. "That's an odd scar. It's shaped _exactly_ like a lightning bolt," he said quietly. He thought back to their Defence class their fourth year. Professor Cross had been a supporter of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, true, but he had taught his classes a lot about curses. A scar in that exact shape _had_ to be a curse scar.

"Are we going to read it?" James asked.

Sirius glanced out the window. "It's likely to rain for the rest of the day. We might as well."

Remus hummed in agreement.

He figured that, since he had the book, he might as well begin to read. He knew that there were a couple spells that would allow the book to read itself, basically, but he didn't know the spells themselves. Besides, the Potters were stricter when it came to underage magic than the Lupins, probably because Mrs Potter worked for the Ministry, and his mum and dad would get upset with him if he upset Mr and Mrs Potter while he stayed at their house.

He cleared his throat. "'Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.'"

Sirius scoffed. "Nothing strange about locking up your nephew, nosir!"

James elbowed him for interrupting, so Remus didn't have to.

"'Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley, and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

"'The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. –'"

"Hey-o!" James called cheerfully, and now Sirius cuffed him over the head.

Remus continued valiantly: "' – Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.'"

"Good for nothing, eh? _Must_ be you, Prongs," Sirius said in a low voice. Remus heard anyway.

He ignored them. "'The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son too, but they had never even seen him. The boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.'"

"Bigots," James said with a snort.

Remus closed the book with a _thunk_. "If you keep interrupting, I'm going to stop reading."

"Hey!" Sirius protested.

"What's the point of reading it at all if we can't give our opinions on it?" James asked sensibly. Well at least, _he_ thought it was sensible question to ask. The problem with James and Sirius was that the two of them were often too self-absorbed to realise that not everything revolved around them.

For God's sake, they thought that books only mattered if _they_ had an opinion on them!

"It's rather distracting when someone's reading," Remus said.

Sirius offered a solution. "We'll wait until the end of the chapter, then. Alright?"

"Alright," Remus agreed. It wasn't such a bad idea. "Maybe we can switch off every chapter too. My throat is already getting sore."

"Poor Moony," James teased. "I'll take the next chapter. Alright?"

"Alright." Remus cleared his throat and found his place again.

* * *

><p>"Well then," Remus said, but he didn't know what else to say. <em>Merlin,<em> he needed water.

The goofy smile James had worn ever since he heard Remus say, fearful of the interruption which thankfully did not come, "Lily and James Potter" had faded, but there was still the trace of it around his lips even as he came to the realisation that he and Evans, if this book _did_ tell their futures, would only have a few happy years together before He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ended that and attempted to kill their son on top of that.

_Voldemort_, Remus told himself. Dumbledore – this future, imaginary Dumbledore – was right. The fear of the name was ridiculous. He was just another wizard, albeit a powerful and evil one. Who was he to demand no one use the name that he himself had chosen?

Sirius looked little better. He didn't like the idea that the Sirius Black in this book had handed over his precious motorbike and James's own son to Hagrid – that he had let them to leave Harry Potter outside on the doorstep of an unpleasant family of muggles who would come to lock him in cupboards and harass him, if the back cover spoke truly.

Remus didn't know what to think. He hadn't been mentioned at all, and he was upset by that.

Had he stayed home during this day of celebrations? (And who in the name of hell would celebrate the day a child was orphaned and abandoned by _Professor Dumbledore_?) Had he stood silently while Sirius allowed this? Had he died years ago?

He swallowed at all the possibilities. Then he thought of Peter. _Poor Wormtail._ Peter was not brave like Remus was, like James and Sirius were. Peter told Remus so too often. Had he been killed, or had Pete followed all of the other refugees to America and Australia?

Or had he stood there with Sirius while Hagrid took away James's only child?

Remus shook his head.

Sirius made a strange sound, neither a snort, a scoff, nor a sob. "That's how Voldemort's defeated then? A _baby_ does it?" He seemed as sceptical as he ought to be.

"There's got to be something else," Remus said. He sounded gruff. "That lightning bolt on his forehead – That's a curse scar. _Voldemort_ had to have hit him with something, if not the Killing Curse, but it didn't work. But it worked on this James and this Lily."

James spoke finally. "'The Boy-Who-Lived'." He scoffed.

"A lot of boys – and girls – haven't lived," Remus said. He had read too many stories about families being killed, the pets as well as the grandparents and the children, to doubt that. "The Death Eaters like to kill, and they like eradicating undesirables wholesale."

"All the same. These people are celebrating the fact that Harry's now orphaned. Doesn't that seem a little heartless to you?"

"Yeah," Sirius said.

Remus nodded.

"McGonagall's right," Sirius continued. "It would be rather funny if they exposed themselves to the muggles on the same night Voldemort vanished. Idiots. Don't witches and wizards have any intelligence in this book?"

"We're not very commonsensical," Remus admitted grudgingly. His mum liked to point that out.

"It doesn't take much common sense to figure out that you should keep yourself to Diagon Alley if you're going to be going out in robes and cloaks. Especially if you want news about the magical world. Do they think they're going to run into Barty Crouch on the streets of muggle London and he'll be able to tell them everything they need to know?"

James chortled. "Padfoot has a point."

"I'm not denying that," Remus said. "I'm just saying that wizards aren't the most logical bunch."

"Tell that to the Ravenclaws. We'll make sure that you don't have your wand when you face down Shacklebolt and Connolly."

Remus's counterparts in Ravenclaw were two of the scariest people he had ever met, and he made a face at the thought. "I really don't need enemies with friends like you two."

James punched his shoulder. "It could be worse. You could be friends with Dumbledore. – Blimey! Why would he trust Hagrid with Harry? I like Hagrid plenty, but I wouldn't trust him with fragile objects or secrets any day of the week, let alone a messiah baby."

Remus rubbed his shoulder. James always forgot that Remus and Peter weren't as athletic as he and Sirius were. "The question is why Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys at all. They're borderline _monstrous_, and they haven't even gotten around to locking him up in a cupboard yet. And that Dudley! Does Dumbledore even have the right to do that?"

"He does as headmaster," Sirius answered. His friends turned to stare at him, and he crossed his arms defensively. "It's in the charter. The headmaster has the right to interfere in the custody of a student, or future student, if it is their best interest. It's usually only enforced if muggle-borns are endangered by their parents, but they can interfere for magic-born children as well."

"Huh." Remus had forgotten that Sirius's grandfather was a member of the Board of Trustees and that his uncle Alphard had served in his father's place before his death last year. It looked like Sirius had learned something from him all of those times he hid away during holidays with his only tolerable relative, after Andromeda. "Do they have it in the charter that professors can just take off if there's a national celebration going on? It says Bonfire Night's next week, so this has to be set during the school year. The odds are five-to-seven that it's a school day, then, and McGonagall spends the whole day watching the Dursleys."

Sirius held up his hands. "That's all her."

"So is her bigotry," James remarked. He added, "_The worst sort of muggles_, she said. It sounds like she thinks that muggles are bad enough."

It did rather.

"And Hagrid isn't that much better. He seems to be crying as much because they're muggles as he is because Harry is leaving the magical world."

"I think," Remus said because his mum was a muggle and he had heard so many half-insults, "that we're noticing it because we're reading it and have time to reflect on it. A lot of people say those things, and I bet we could make a list of them all after only a week back that even Professor Pitt could accept as a good length for an essay." He didn't add that he had heard some from James and Sirius too.

"I suppose so," Sirius said. He had a thoughtful look on. Then he shook his head. "What about your girl Evans's sister, eh, Prongs? I know something about family, and hell's bells, she's awful."

"She doesn't hate her _that_ much," Remus said. Sirius arched an eyebrow. "She knows Harry's name and how old he is, even mentioned it to Vernon. From what Lily says, I know they don't get on, but I don't think that Petunia hates _Lily_. Though, she might hate _Harry_."

His thoughts turned to the blurb on the back again. How could _anyone_ treat a child like that?

"It's a fair point," James said, quickly, before Sirius could finish opening his mouth. "What about that Put-Outer, though? It'd be dead convenient."

"You have an Invisibility Cloak, mate."

"It'd still be nice, Padfoot."

Remus handed the book to James. "It's your turn. "The Vanishing Glass"."

"Ooh. Intriguing." James began to read:

"'Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.'"

* * *

><p>There have been a lot of "HP characters read books" stories out there, but few have appealed to me. A friend said, after I mentioned my plans to write this, "Most of them go the crack route, but it could be a really serious story." I'm not sure how serious this will be, but I have made a valiant attempt to keep the characters I depict in-character, their concerns reasonable, and their commentary equally so. Obviously, all of the above will improve with time because I am (a) out of practice with HP, (b) experimenting still, and (c) not the most devoted to editing myself when I'm expecting to write 200 chapters. If you do see an error, feel free to comment and tell me so. I promise to be civil and fix it.<p>

Peter is not present because it would be unnaturally cruel to allow him to be subject to Sirius and Remus's wrath when they read POA. Charlus and Dorea are James's parents because otherwise there would be no reason to include them on the Black family tree and list a single son, though Dorea is older than she would be according to the family tree. PS is complete, and I am beginning work on COS.


	2. The Vanishing Glass

**Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass**

"'At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.'"

James closed the book. His jaw was set firmly, and Remus wondered if he suspected how _noble_ he looked right then. Like a king about to seek justice.

Sirius made a sound. "What kind of eleven-year-old has a gang?"

"We did," Remus commented quietly. "I hope that neither of you got thirty-nine presents on your eleventh birthday, though. I certainly didn't."

James scowled fiercely. "The kid's a _monster_. He won't even let Harry have _one_ friend. – And that aunt and uncle of his! I hope Evans isn't too attached because I might not let Petunia live for this."

"She hasn't done it yet. She might not do it," Remus said.

Was that why these books appeared in James's bedroom today? Were they meant to prevent a bad future from happening? Remus thought that it was a little strange that someone would think that a couple of sixteen-year-old boys were capable of that, but maybe E.R.L. was desperate.

_How_ desperate? Harry had defeated _Voldemort_. How much worse could it get?

"Why doesn't someone _stop_ them?" James demanded.

Sirius's laugh was hoarse and sceptical. "They're a nice, middle-class couple with an odd nephew. Who's going to call the muggle whatsits, _coppers,_ on them, and who would believe the accusations if they did? They probably think he's mental or asking for it."

"We tell ourselves all kinds of lies," Remus said softly.

James couldn't contest that.

"Like telling Harry that his parents died in a car crash," Sirius remarked. "I don't know much about muggle medicine, but I'm pretty sure non-Curse Scars don't make perfect lightning bolts. Even when they stitch each other up like blouses."

"He's eleven. He hasn't exactly graduated to higher reasoning yet."

"He can Apparate and make his hair grow back. Hasn't he figured out that something is strange?"

"It's impressive that he can Apparate," James interrupted. Remus sent a silent 'thank you' his way. "It's advanced magic, especially for _accidental_ magic."

"It's pretty impressive that he can remember the night, er, these James and Lily died, too," Sirius conceded. "I guess it's trauma, but still. He was barely older than a year when it happened."

"He can speak Parseltongue too," Remus added because James and Sirius were seemingly devoted to avoiding the topic. "Do you have any relatives who can, James? Or you, Sirius? I suppose it could skip a couple generations, though."

"No one's said anything," James replied. "I'd think they would mention _that_."

Remus considered this. Could it have something to do with Voldemort? There were rumours, but no one besides Sirius's cousin Mrs Lestrange and her ilk believed them. "It's going to be a nasty shock for him when he gets to Hogwarts and learns what people think of it. That snake was probably one of the few people to speak kindly to him – for a given value of "speak" –, and nearly everyone thinks that it's the sign of a naturally evil disposition."

"Maybe he's better off not knowing about magic for now. If only for that," James said. He was still wary of the skill, but he was clearly growing fond of his potential son already. "I hope he makes friends who aren't snakes at Hogwarts."

Remus ignored the metaphor. "I'm sure he will. The author wouldn't make such a big deal about his lack of friends now if it wouldn't be rectified later."

"You're the reader," James said with his hands raised. "Do you think he'll run into some family as well? I guess I wouldn't be too surprised if my parents were dead by the time Harry was born – they aren't _young_ –, but I have other family. The McKinnons are like pests."

"In more ways than one," Sirius commented. Marlene McKinnon was a few years older than they were, and she hadn't much cared for her awful cousin (twice removed) and his awful friends always causing her trouble.

"I'm sure there's some reason he didn't go live with them," Remus said. To lighten the mood, he added, "At least we know that Harry is your kid, James. That hair is unmistakable even in literary form."

James lightly punched his shoulder.

"It must be how everyone is recognizing him," Sirius said. "Those morons are bowing in shops and the like, and here Harry is supposed to be _safer_ where no one knows him!"

"They can't keep him locked up forever," Remus said. If they could, they would have.

"Good point," James said, and he handed the book to Sirius. "It's your turn to read. Maybe we'll find out all the answers in this chapter."

"Probably not." Sirius cleared his throat. "'Chapter 3 – The Letters From No One.' _Promising_. 'The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment.'"


	3. The Letters From No One

**Chapter 3: The Letters From No One**

"'Someone was outside, knocking to come in.'" Sirius wriggled his eyebrows at them, but his heart wasn't in it. Remus could tell.

James gave a low whistle. "Vernon _is_ mad, isn't he?"

"Probably," Sirius agreed. His answering grin came easily. He probably realised that the end of the Dursleys' reign of terror had come. "He deserves it. He and his horse-necked wife haven't given Harry one single birthday gift, all these years? The kid would probably enjoy _a book_ even, and Dudley obviously isn't reading any of the ones in his second bedroom."

"There's nothing wrong with books," Remus said, but he agreed that a book could do Harry Potter a world of good. "He's safer inside, I think. Dudley's gang can't play Harry Hunting if he's inside."

"They're at the house anyway, and Petunia's more likely to punish _Harry_ if something breaks than any of them." James shook his head. "The only reason he was safe in the first place was because they had him locked up inside of the cupboard for a whole month, and the only person who noticed was Mrs Figg. Who is she, anyway?"

"His babysitter." It said so in the book!

He rolled his eyes. "But why is she trusted out of all their neighbours? He's doing accidental magic all the time, and the Dursleys obviously don't want people knowing. What makes her so special?"

Remus shrugged.

"Figg isn't a wizarding name," Sirius offered. "At least, not a pureblood name."

"That's a little helpful," James said. He ruffled his hair. "At least the kid's got a sense of humour. It isn't like he's a wit, but his line about the toilet never seeing anything like Dudley's head down it before was pretty good for an eleven-year-old."

They nodded.

"I liked his quip about the school uniform needing to be wet," Sirius added weakly.

"I'm sure he'll get funnier as he gets older," Remus said. "There's seven books, and we're not one sixth of the way through this one yet."

"And he's going to Hogwarts, not _Smeltings_, so that will help," Sirius said in a more cheerful voice. "What kind of school is that, anyway?"

"An awful one, most likely," Remus answered. Then something occurred to him. "They're strangely intense about Harry attending Hogwarts, aren't they? Usually the school accepts the implied "no" when there's no response from wizardborn children? And muggle-born children should receive a visit from a professor. I thought the Magic Quill only wrote down the address once."

"Well, Dumbledore is powerful," James said. "He could always compel it to write down the address more than once. – And besides, the Dursleys might not even hold the power to keep Harry from attending Hogwarts."

"They have guardianship."

"Do _you_ know all that entails?"

Remus had to acknowledge that he did not. "But _why_ go through so much effort? Saviour or not, he is only another eleven-year-old boy."

"It'd be bad for publicity if _the Harry Potter_ didn't go to Hogwarts," Sirius said. "People would be wondering why, maybe withdrawing their own kids."

"Or it could be to shame Vernon and Petunia," James said more positively. "If they _don't_ have the right to decide where Harry goes to school, then all they're doing is throwing a temper tantrum that isn't going to do anything. Dumbledore could send someone to collect Harry, and that's that. The only reason to bother with all this then would be to make a point. These people are _terrified_ of magic, so they should want to keep Dumbledore and McGonagall and all them away. The best way to keep the lot of them from getting involved is to treat Harry well, and Dumbledore _knows_ they haven't been doing that."

"The first thing Vernon does is move Harry into Dudley's second bedroom," Remus said softly.

James nodded once, a little smugly. He had won this part of the argument.

"He should have just come in and hexed them all," Sirius said. "They deserve it."

"Not if he wants Harry to come back to Privet Drive for holidays," Remus retorted gently. "He had a reason to send Harry there in the first place, and I doubt his reason has changed."

"If he knows what they do to him –"

"Does he? He knows that they make him sleep inside of a cupboard, but I don't think Dumbledore could conceive of people as cruel as the Dursleys are. Good people don't necessarily understand how low bad people can sink."

Sirius crossed his arms.

"It's interesting where they go, though," James commented. "Evans lives in Cokeworth. I'd assume that her sister does too, and Vernon would hopefully know where his wife used to live. Were they trying to make a point of their own?"

Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Like what?"

"I don't know." James slumped over. "Then they immediately go to that hut, and Vernon can't even figure out that his family needs more to eat than a banana and a bag of chips each. Petunia definitely does all the cooking in that house."

"It makes Dumbledore desperate enough to send someone," Remus pointed out. "Hagrid, I should think. He's the only one who can make that kind of sound when walking or knocking, and it's been shown before that Dumbledore trusts him when it comes to Harry."

"But why?" James muttered. "The man wants nothing more in life than a dragon. Isn't that weird?"

"Yes, but not untrustworthy. He's certainly upfront about the desire. He's mentioned it repeatedly, to all of us." Honestly, Hagrid was trustworthy _because_ he couldn't keep a secret to save his life (or anyone else's), and it wasn't like any of this involved secrecy.

Wait. Did Hagrid tell _everyone_ in the Hog's Head where they left Harry? That would explain how (or why) the people were bowing to him in shops.

James made a thoughtful sound. "I wonder how much Dumbledore is taking into account ritual. It isn't like midnight is a random time, and eleventh birthdays have enormous significance for us."

"It's completely wasted on Harry regardless," Sirius said.

"Touché, good sir."

Sirius made a mock bow with an extravagant flourish.

"It's my turn to read," Remus said, holding out his hands for the book. "Maybe this chapter will be the one were things improve."

"We wouldn't have a book if that were true," Sirius said as he gave it to him.

Remus grimaced. _Touché, my good sir_. "'Boom. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.'"


	4. The Keeper of the Keys

**Chapter 4: The Keeper of the Keys**

"'"You can kip under that," he said, "Don' mind if it wiggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."' – Dormice?"

"Hagrid," James explained fondly. "That man's a menace."

"I'm not debating that. I just wonder if he really is the best man for the job in this case. I mean, he has to know that Harry was kept at the Dursleys _in part_ because he was supposed to remain ignorant. Why did he blow up at them then?"

Remus glanced around and saw that none of them were particularly ill at ease now. It was strange, really, how comforting Hagrid could be considering his _presence_, but there was a steadiness there all the same. You could depend on Hagrid, even if he sometimes forgot that not everyone was ten feet tall. That was probably why Dumbledore sent him to Harry, though he might not have been the best person in this situation. Dumbledore had to know how ignorant Harry would be, surely.

"I can't believe Vernon was stupid enough to pull a rifle on a wizard," Sirius said. "Even Hagrid."

"_Especially_ Hagrid," James said. "I didn't know he wasn't allowed to do magic – and I wonder why he got expelled –, but just looking at him should make a person of reasonable intelligence wise up."

"It's _Vernon_," Remus said after taking a sip of water. His friends chortled.

"Nice of Hagrid to bring a birthday cake," James said. "But he really is a bigot. You don't notice it when you're surrounded by wizards and witches, I guess. There's no need to talk about muggles at all."

"Maybe that's a problem too," Remus said.

James frowned thoughtfully.

"There's a difference between keeping him from knowing that he's a celebrity and keeping him from knowing he's a wizard," Sirius pointed out, and Remus had to agree. "Petunia probably wanted to keep it quiet because she was so jealous of Evans. Er, Lily. – Hagrid might be part of the _statement_ that Dumbledore is making. The fear of Hagrid is a much more _physical_ terror than the fear of magic."

"No one could contest Hagrid if he wanted to take Harry away either, if the Dursleys even have the right to him," James added. "Hagrid wouldn't shy away from declaring his devotion to Dumbledore either, which might be a part of the point Dumbledore's trying to make."

Hagrid certainly hadn't.

"He doesn't have a problem speaking out about his disdain for muggles either," Remus muttered. He decided to change the subject before they went over old ground. "Who would believe that a rifle could manage against a wand? I don't know a lot about muggle weapons, but I can't imagine that a_ rifle_ would do much. A handgun, maybe, if you weren't facing off against Hagrid."

What could harm Hagrid anyway?

"No one here knows much about guns," James said. He was still grinning. "I love Hagrid. Who else would have stormed into that hut with a birthday cake? And then tell a kid that he has his mum's eyes? He needs a present when we're done with this."

"We're not getting him a dragon," Sirius answered promptly. "As much as we love Hagrid, I think I have to side with Moony on this. Hagrid is wonderful, but is he the best to introduce Harry to the magical world? He's not exactly – er – _good_ with answering questions."

"He told him all about Voldemort," James said.

"All he really said was 'Parents dead – Voldemort dead – But not really'," Sirius protested. "Then he got Harry into trouble with his aunt and uncle by using magic he's not supposed to and cursing Dudley. It isn't like I don't appreciate what he did, but Vernon is going to seek blood for that – _Harry's_ blood."

James frowned. "They'll be too scared of him now." He didn't seem too convinced, though.

"But during the summers? When he can't do magic?"

That was an uncomfortable thought. "Fair point, that. We'll have to read on."

"I can't believe Harry survived the Killing Curse," Remus said, which must have seemed out of the blue for the two of them. He had taken the opportunity to reread that portion of the chapter. "How can he even remember it?"

"It's powerful magic. It had to have left some kind of imprint beyond the scar," Sirius said.

"I really want to know how he survived it," James said, nodding at Remus. "What about all of those families Hagrid listed off, eh? The Prewetts must mean Ignatius and his sons – Gideon and Fabian. I'd think that his daughter would count as a Weasley now. The McKinnons must be my uncle Hugh and his family, but do you know any family called 'Bone'?"

"It might be the Boneses. Edgar Bones is getting vocal about the Death Eaters," Sirius said.

James grinned. "Hagrid's not the best with grammar."

"Or cooking. Harry really must be starving to think it tastes good."

"The kid is a mystery at this point. He might as well like Hagrid's cooking. He certainly likes maths for some ungodly reason."

Remus cut in. "Liking maths is promising. He'll probably take Arithmancy then."

James and Sirius, who took that class with him, both shrugged.

_Hopeless, _Remus thought. He handed the book to James. "Your turn."

"So it is." James cleared his throat. "'Chapter Five – Diagon Alley'."

"Wait one moment!" Sirius said. The others glared at him for interrupting. "Now McGonagall is the deputy headmistress! What happened to Sluggy?"

"He probably retired. It isn't like he's that young," James said sensibly. He cleared his throat again. "'Harry woke early the next morning.'"

* * *

><p>As you can tell by now, these chapters will be fairly short except for the first and last chapters of every book. I've thus decided to publish them by threes with the exception of those first and last chapters to make it worthwhile. My apologies to those who "follow", but it was the best solution I could come up with.<p> 


	5. Diagon Alley

**Chapter 5: Diagon Alley**

"'Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.'" James gave a low whistle. "Where to begin with this one? Lads?"

"Chronologically?" Remus suggested.

Sirius scoffed. "How about with that little shit in Madam Malkin's?"

James pointed at him. "We have a winner. Sirius?"

"He's a brat, a little racist monster! His mum's looking at wands. You can't buy a wand without the kid there! – and his dad buying his books for him. He even thinks he could smuggle in a broomstick. Then what? The second he flies it, someone is going to guess something is up."

"Not to mention his disdain for Hagrid and his utter lack of sympathy for Harry's being orphaned," Remus added. He wasn't a fan of the child either, but he wasn't going to write him off because of what he was at the age of eleven. "What does he have against Hufflepuff anyway?"

"Lots of people like his family hate Hufflepuff," Sirius said knowledgeably. "Hard work and equality pretty much are the opposite of what they want, and loyalty_ to whom_? Slytherins are loyal to their own sort first and foremost while Hufflepuffs are loyal to their friends."

"Of course, Hagrid is as prejudiced against Slytherin." Remus was unsurprised to be ignored.

"Good thing the Littlest Bigot didn't stick around," James said.

"He'll be back," Remus said as the reader of the group. "Can we go back to the Dursleys? He _is_ off to Privet Drive at the end of the chapter."

"I'll allow it."

"_Thanks._ – Hagrid abandons them on the Rock? They don't tell them that they're leaving, and then they take the boat. That's not going to make them any kinder to Harry."

"And then he sends Harry back to them without any sign that they plan to interfere further," Sirius said. "Now Harry is back to Little Whinging with a pocket filled with gold and no defence beyond a wand he has no idea how to use. – _And they think that he cost them money!_ They kept him in a cupboard and then didn't feed or clothe him for a decade!"

"It's awful," James agreed, but he didn't seem to understand why Sirius was so heated. How could someone who had grown up with his parents understand Sirius's?

"What about Hagrid's ways of getting around?" Remus asked. "He _flew_ to get there and _Apparated_ away. What size of broom does he need? – And how can he Apparate if he barely knows magic?"

"He might not have Apparated," James said. "Dumbledore could have given him a Portkey."

"True."

In a lower voice, James added, "Hagrid did comfort Harry before sending him back. He did try his best, but it's difficult to help when you can't understand."

"Yeah. He did," Sirius said.

"He also let the people in the Leaky Cauldron mob Harry," Remus pointed out.

James shrugged. "He probably thought it would cheer him up. Hagrid's a people-person."

"Hagrid doesn't understand politics or discretion, let alone people not wanting to be mobbed by the adoring masses," Sirius said, and he was smiling a little.

"No one's going to debate that. He did buy Harry a present, though."

"A nice present at that. It seems like a lovely owl."

"He can use it to owl-order _Curses and Counter-Curses_! – if he knows how to owl-order."

"Doubt it."

There was a rather long pause, so Remus said, "I wonder what was in the package."

"The Philosopher's Stone, probably," Sirius said.

James gave a loud, fake gasp. "Sirius, have you been reading books in secret?"

"You've found me out!"

"It's a good idea," Remus said, but he thought it was too obvious. What was the intended audience for this series? It couldn't be the main character's father and his friends because the style would have been very different if it were.

"Quirrell's shady as all hell," Sirius said out of nowhere.

"Yeah," James said.

Remus didn't disagree. "What about Ollivanders?" he asked instead.

"I thought we were going to politely ignore that," James said with a small smile. "It's unpleasant, I know, but there's little to be done about that. A wand will choose who it will."

"I'm sure there's a reason," Sirius said. "My turn, isn't it? 'The Journey From Platform Nine and Three Quarters'. Finally! 'Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.'"


	6. The Journey from Platform 9 and 34

**Chapter 6: The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

"'Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.' Well then? At least our lad is finally at Hogwarts."

"He'll be a Gryffindor by the end of the next chapter," James said.

"Maybe," Remus said, but he couldn't help but think so. The book was certainly setting up for him to be Sorted into Gryffindor. To Sirius, he said, "It looks like we were wrong. The Dursleys just ignored him until he approached them."

"_This_ summer. They still had Dudley's tail to remind them."

"True."

"I don't know why Petunia pretended she didn't know about Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Or Molly Weasley! It's where we always go."

"Petunia probably was disassembling, or maybe she forgot over the years," Remus acknowledged. "Mrs Weasley has an excuse – she had to deal with five children on September first, which is hell even for my mum. She probably got flustered and forgot. – How do you know her name's Molly, anyway?"

"I went to her wedding." James snorted. "I was nine, and her granddad knows my dad. Her whole family was snooty about it because Arthur's a _Weasley_ and they're all blood traitors and poor, but nobody was worse than her stepmother about it."

"My aunt Lucretia," Sirius supplied. "She actually isn't that bad, considering our family, but my dad said that she thought Arthur couldn't support a family. Which she was right about."

"Seven children can't be cheap for anyone," Remus protested.

Sirius gave a half shrug. "The twins seem cool."

"Yeah," James agreed, "and Ron's alright."

"I like Ron," Remus said. He remembered being the child in too-short or too-long robes that were unravelling at the cuffs. It wasn't fun, but at least Ron had sat with Harry instead of someone else. "Ginny is annoying, but most ten-year-olds are."

All agreed.

"Poor Ron, though," James said. "A second-hand wand? He'll be lucky if it doesn't blow up, and he has a pet rat on top of that. The kid would get brutalised if he didn't befriend Harry. D'you think he did it on purpose?" He said it with a grin.

Remus rolled his eyes. "No eleven-year-old is that manipulative."

"I was joking anyway."

"Besides, Scabbers isn't so bad. He bit Goyle."

James chortled. "So he did. – Was anyone surprised, though, that the Littlest Bigot turned out to be a Malfoy? Draco, huh? He might be the son of your cousin Narcissa."

"Probably is. She and Malfoy are all but engaged now, only waiting on my uncle to finally give his blessing. Marrying a Malfoy is beneath a daughter of the House of Black, which I happen to agree with for different reasons." Sirius flipped through the chapter. "Clever boy, our Harry. Food is the first step to friendship."

Remus half-suspected that was only true of eleven-year-old boys. "Shame about Hermione. She just wanted to make friends with them, and they were rude to her."

"She was rude too! Nobody wants to be friends with a know-it-all who scolds them and bursts in on them to nag." Sirius was obviously passionate about this, and Remus politely pretended that he didn't notice that his criticism of Hermione sounded a lot like how he viewed Lily Evans.

Remus had to own to his criticism anyway. "Hmmm. What about the Gringotts robbery? I do think that package was the Philosopher's Stone now. Otherwise, the book wouldn't keep mentioning Gringotts – unless Harry is going back, which is a little nonsensical."

"Yeah. Then Harry got Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card with the talk about his work with Nicolas Flamel." James ran his hand through his hair. "It _was_ nice of Ron to explain Quidditch to Harry."

"It was nice of Hagrid to say hello to him and hand Neville back his toad, though that might really be cruel," Sirius said.

"I think it was an awful idea," Remus said. "It shows favouritism. Hagrid might be the gamekeeper and not a professor, but he still is a staff member."

"You can suck the fun out of any room," James said fondly.

"It's a gift. – Hand me the book, Sirius. It's my turn." Remus opened to the seventh chapter. "'The Sorting Hat. The door swung open at once.'"


	7. The Sorting Hat

**Chapter 7: The Sorting Hat**

"'He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke the next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.'" Remus mentally counted down from three, but James erupted at 'two'.

"Slytherin!"

"Hardly," Remus said curtly. He had been expecting this. "The Hat didn't even mention it to him until Harry started chanting 'not Slytherin' at it. I'm sure it was just playing devil's advocate."

"Maybe," James said, and he crossed his arms to have a good pout.

Sirius shook his head. "Shame about that, Prongs, but cheer up. Worse things have happened. It looks like someone made _Snivellus_ a professor. Madman, Dumbledore is."

Remus had expected that too, and for this he had no justification. "It's absolutely _mental_," he said, and he adored Professor Dumbledore (even he had to admit that – to himself). "_Snape_ has to be the reason why Slytherin has won the House Cup for _six years in a row_. You know he would favour them blatantly and take away points at random from the other houses. He's petty and vindictive."

"He's going to bully Harry awfully," Sirius concluded, and Remus didn't doubt it.

Had any of them had Snape's son as his student, they would have treated him well enough. Remus could say that with confidence. James was good with children and liked them, not even giving Slytherin first years dirty looks, and honestly, Remus thought that they were too cruel to Snape in the first place, although he did give as good as he got. (Hadn't he used dark magic to slice James's cheek just months ago when they had only used a couple of minor spells on him?) Sirius wasn't a saint, certainly, but he – of all people – knew that the son wasn't responsible for the sins of his father. His _dead_ father who Harry hadn't even known.

"The next chapter is called 'The Potions Master'," Remus added glumly.

"I don't know," James said, and they both turned to look at him in shock. "Snape worships Evans, doesn't he? All but lays prostrate at her feet. He might be kind to Harry for her sake."

"Maybe," Remus said, and Sirius snorted.

"That dream promises otherwise, mate."

"Dreams can mean a lot of things, and not all are prophetic." James was oddly firm in his defence of Snape.

"Then there's what happened after the Defence OWL," Sirius continued, but James refused to take the bait. It was probably a first for him.

"Small class," he commented. He was probably hoping to change the subject.

They allowed it.

Sirius answered him. "Harry was born in the middle of the war. The birth rate always goes down in wartime and jumps up afterwards, especially in magical communities. We have better contraceptives than muggles do. Harry's year might only have forty, but I bet there's going to be four times as many first years in his third when all the Harrys, Jameses, and Lilys show up."

James laughed.

None of them questioned Sirius's arithmetic. _Of course_, there were forty students in Harry's year. There were always the same number of students in each dormitory due to a union of statistics and magic. If there were five beds in Harry's dorm, then the same was true for everyone else's.

"I always wondered _how_ we managed to keep the Sorting Hat secret from first years and everyone else," Remus remarked. "I know it isn't in _Hogwarts, a History_, but surely people talk."

"Tradition, innit?" James said.

"It's just odd after nine hundred years and countless students. And it was cruel of the twins to tell Ron that they had to wrestle a troll."

"Andromeda told me that I'd have to answer questions about magical theory, but she only wanted me to study harder. She ran off with Tonks that summer, so I stopped studying after that," Sirius said nostalgically. "I can still remember Narcissa's face after the Hat shouted 'Gryffindor'. Almost as good as Sluggy's. I never saw a man look so disappointed."

"Everyone expected me to be in Gryffindor," James said with easy confidence.

"No one cared where I would end up except my dad, and he was alright with Gryffindor." Lyall had wanted his only son in Ravenclaw, but he had once admitted (to Hope after Remus was supposed to have gone to bed) that it was probably for the best. _Ravenclaws ask too many questions_. That had been before three of his Gryffindor classmates started asking too many questions.

"I didn't even know we had a school song," James said when Remus was half-attending. "I guess it isn't something you want to sing when the world's gone to shit."

"I'm surprised Dumbledore dared. McGonagall's as scary as ever, and if she doesn't want to hear a song, I wouldn't suggest it," Sirius said.

"He _is_ technically her superior," Remus said.

"Technically," James agreed. He took the book from where Remus had placed it on the floor. "Here we go. 'Chapter Eight – The Potions Master. "There, look."'"


	8. The Potions Master

**Chapter 8: The Potions Master**

"'And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?' Obviously. I have to wonder about my future son sometimes. Doesn't he know how to question people until they break?"

"The Dursleys never encouraged questions," Remus reminded him.

"Point." James sighed. "Looks like you two were right. Snape was a git to Harry. At least Harry got some good snark in before Snape had a temper tantrum. If you can't take it, don't dish it out."

"I have to wonder about Dumbledore's staff altogether," Remus said somewhat unwillingly. "Snape is a bully, Quirrell is useless, Binns is _worse_ than useless, and Filch is actively malicious."

"We should exorcise Binns and destroy Filch's peculiar love of cats before it goes any further. Somehow. That Mrs Norris seems worse than Miss Bates."

"This hasn't happened yet," Remus reminded Sirius. "Exorcising Binns isn't a half-bad idea, really. I'm just glad we're not taking his class next year."

"Is anybody?"

"Livia Osborn," Sirius answered James. "She's the only one mad enough."

Remus said nothing, but he did wonder why Sirius knew what classes that a girl in another House was planning to take next year. If Sirius intended to keep his interest private, Remus would respect that if only to prevent another James-and-Lily situation from erupting.

Instead of pointing this out, he said, "It was rather nice of Hagrid to use Hedwig to send Harry the invitation. He must know that he doesn't get post."

"It was nice of him to invite him at all. We only get invited round when he gets us out of trouble."

"He still couldn't tell him that Snape used to fancy his mum?" James asked. "Hell, he couldn't even tell him that they used to be _friends_. Or that Snape hated me! Those are all decent enough things to tell a kid who wants to know why his professor has an irrational hatred of him."

"He might want to prevent Harry from hating Snape, who _is_ one of his professors," Remus said. It was a weak argument even for him.

"I don't see how he's going to prevent it."

"Maybe Dumbledore warned him. – No, that's nonsense. Dumbledore wouldn't interfere in that. He has more important things to do than tell Hagrid what he should and shouldn't say. Especially since we all know that would make it _exactly_ what he would go and say."

"At least now Harry knows how bad his cooking is," Sirius said.

They chuckled.

"It's a shame everybody teases Harry over his _fame_," James said. He was clearly thinking of Snape in particular, but the students who had started off the chapter weren't free from his censure either. "They shouldn't be making things difficult for him over something he can't remember."

"That would be _rational_."

"Are you going on again about how wizards are irrational, Moony?"

"I think so," Remus said teasingly.

"Well, we won't hear it. It's your turn, Sirius, and it seems like it's getting interesting. This chapter is called 'The Midnight Duel'."

"That _is_ promising," Sirius said as he accepted the book. "I wonder who Harry's going to duel."

Remus rolled his eyes. "He's a first year in his _second week_."

"No better time for it."

"Read!"

Sirius laughed. "You're going to end up disappointed, Moony. You think our boy's a good kid, but he has Marauder blood running through his veins. Evans's blood isn't going to keep him out of trouble, no matter how snooty she is."

"Read!" This time James joined Remus in shouting the order.

"Alright! – 'Harry never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy.'"


	9. The Midnight Duel

**Chapter 9: The Midnight Duel**

Sirius concluded, "'It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.'"

"Where do you think we should start _this_ one?" James asked.

"The beginning," Sirius said dryly, but then he started near the beginning. "Why do the Gryffindors and Slytherins have flying _and_ Potions together? I know they have a smaller class than ours, but I think the professors would put the Gryffindors with the Hufflepuffs or the Ravenclaws. Less conflict."

Remus nodded. "The castle seems almost deserted, even in crowd scenes. Every year must be smaller than ours is."

There were twenty boys in their dorm, which was half the reason why the Marauders could sneak out so often. With so many people there, four boys could go unnoticed. Even James and Sirius, who made themselves noticed, but they could also be secretive when it was called for.

"The war," James said with a small, sad shrug. He perked up then. "What about my boy, eh? Harry might be the Boy-Who-Lived, but he's also _the youngest Seeker in a century._"

"He defended Neville," Remus pointed out proudly. He didn't want to forget another's contribution, so he added, "So did Parvati." He had high hopes for her after seeing how easily she jumped to Neville's defence, especially as she must have known Pansy Parkinson personally. They used each other's given names, after all.

"McGonagall has always doted on us," James continued, still marvelling at his son. "She hides it, of course, but I've noticed her fondness. She has clearly passed it on to Harry, and why shouldn't she have? I don't doubt that he's a natural on a broom (Mum and I are), and he is growing more snarky by the day."

"Yes, and he also got himself in a duel as a first year," Remus said flatly.

"With Draco Malfoy! The twat set up a trap, even." James shook his head sadly. "You remind me of Hermione Granger in this moment, my friend, and I dislike that."

"Oh, shut it!"

Sirius grimaced. "That girl is getting more and more obnoxious by the chapter. She's going to end up like Percy by the end of the series."

"You know she's going to end up being chosen as prefect."

"_I'm_ a prefect."

"Your point?" James asked, all faux innocence.

Remus wouldn't play along. "I feel sorry for Hermione. She's obviously desperate for friends, and I bet that she couldn't make friends at her muggle primary school because she was so cleverer than they all were and kept making odd things happen."

Sirius didn't share his sympathies, so he decided to take the offensive. "That's not an excuse to be a little know-it-all who tattles to professors."

"She's _eleven_. We were all awful at eleven. We're still awful!"

"Our brand of awful is less annoying than hers."

"I disagree."

"Really? Because 'killed or worse expelled' seems like a normal sequence of priorities to you?"

"It might be for her. What happens when muggle-born students are expelled anyway?"

Sirius opened his mouth, either to answer his question or retort, but he was interrupted.

"Let's not fight, lads," James said sharply. They looked away from one another, and James said, in a deliberately cheerful voice, "What about that forbidden corridor, huh? Harry was clever to realise that the package was down there. I wonder how they got a Cerberus to guard it. Those are all but legendary."

"Probably Hagrid," Sirius replied.

"Probably," James said. "Er, maybe we best read the next chapter. We want to be done by the time my dad calls for supper, and we're only about halfway through now."

"It's my chapter," Remus said, and he pursed his lips when his fingers briefly brushed Sirius's. "Er, 'Chapter Ten – Halloween. Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.'"


	10. Halloween

**Chapter 10: Halloween**

"'There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.' See, Hermione isn't so bad. She got them out of trouble. They're all friends now." Remus didn't know why he wanted them both to like Hermione, but he did.

Sirius rolled his eyes, and James smiled with fond exasperation. "You're right, Remus. She isn't so bad, but she is annoying. 'Course, everyone in this book except Harry is."

"They're _eleven_." Remus was a _prefect_, and he found most of the first years annoying. So did Lily.

"It was her fault she was in the loo anyway," Sirius interjected.

"Ron insulted her!"

Sirius evidently could not imagine anyone who would have thin enough skin to be upset about her lack of friends being pointed out by someone she had previously tried to befriend in front of others. There was little hope of convincing him, so Remus instead said, "It was very brave of Harry and Ron to go rescue her when they realised she didn't know about the troll."

"My son has an adventurous spirit," James agreed warmly. "He and Ron were pleasingly excited by their encounter with the three-headed dog."

"Less so with their encounter with a troll."

"That's different. Trolls smell dreadful and look worse. Poor Harry, his wand probably isn't going to smell right for weeks."

"He didn't complain," Sirius said, "and we seem to be in his head for the most part. I want to know what Snape is up to, though."

"He might have been the one who let the troll in," James suggested. His previous defence of Snape had vanished, but then again, so had any tender feelings Remus had borne the greasy-haired git. "I doubt it's anything good, that's for certain. He might be after the Stone himself."

"I don't know about that," Remus said. "It seems like he's too obvious of a villain."

Sirius tossed his head. "What's that muggle phrase McGonagall said once, 'When you hear hooves think of horses, not zebras'. Sometimes people act suspiciously because they _are_ up to something."

"Occam's Razor," Remus supplied, and he added, "She brought it up because she knew it was you and James who had jinxed the girls toilets on the fourth floor to broadcast all the conversations within to the whole floor."

"Hey! We learned lots that day," James said, but he wore a slightly-dazed expression. Perhaps they had learned _too_ much that day. Remus had certainly found it educational, and he wondered why Hogwarts, in all its years, had never thought to offer an anatomy class.

"Speaking of McGonagall, I see her interest in Quidditch hasn't abated," Sirius said.

James nodded. "The Nimbus 2000 must be the best – and most expensive – broom on the market from what Ron says. She must have been saving up, on a professor's salary."

"Hogwarts pays well, and it isn't like she needs to buy more than her clothes if she lives there for the whole year," Remus pointed out. "It is favouritism, though, for her to buy a broom for one student."

"Lighten up, Moony. Everything is _favouritism_ with you in this book. Harry's an orphan with no one else to provide for him, and McGonagall has a soft spot for me. Always has. She probably thought it would be a nice treat for him."

"But _after_ she already had the rules bent to let him on the team –"

"She _really_ likes Quidditch," Sirius pointed out.

Remus couldn't argue with that.

"How secret is she planning on keeping this anyway?" Sirius waved his hand to indicate the whole situation. "Harry is going to playing in games, right? And eventually people are going to notice him either going to the broomshed or coming and going with a broom even if he doesn't play for a while. It isn't like Malfoy is going to keep it a secret either."

"I don't understand why we have a rule against first years having brooms anyway," James griped. "I guess some kids can't be trusted, but it isn't like we don't teach them the proper way soon enough. We all shouldn't be punished for the incompetence of a few."

"What a beautiful speech," Remus said dryly.

"Thank you."

"It's your turn to read." Remus handed the book to him.

"'Chapter Eleven – Quidditch. As they entered November, the weather turned very cold.'"


	11. Quidditch

**Chapter 11: Quidditch**

"'Hagrid looked furious with himself.' _Hagrid_. The poor man can't a secret for more than a handful of chapters, can he?" James laughed a little. "At least we were right, and it is the Philosopher's Stone. Why did Flamel give it to Dumbledore, though?"

"I suppose it will be explained later," Remus said.

Sirius was still shaking his head. "Of course the dog's Hagrid's, and of course his name is Fluffy. It makes perfect sense."

"I'm just glad he took a bite out of Snape's leg," James said. Then he frowned. "Why do Snape and Filch get on so well? Filch hates everybody, but he hates students and professors the most."

"So does Snape. They have loads in common."

James acknowledged that. "I wonder if Snape really did curse Harry. It seems too obvious."

"It does," Remus agreed. "I think this might be meant for children. It's rather simplistically written. The other books might be more complex, maybe."

"Maybe. Snape does seem to be getting set up, but some people are simply dreadful human beings. Taking that book from Harry, for instance. There is no such rule about library books on the grounds!"

"Unnecessary malicious," Sirius agreed. "And yes, Remus, it was nice of Hermione to lend it to him. She's _such_ a wonderful friend. She even checks over their homework!"

Remus held up his hands in protest. "I said nothing, but I do happen to agree with you."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"The sign she and Dean Thomas made was lovely," Remus added serenely. "James, that was a very clumsy invitation to start talking about the Quidditch match."

James beamed. "Thank you, Remus. Damn good match, wasn't it? I wish I were there."

There was a pause, and Remus could almost hear James wonder if he _could_ be there the next time around. After all, there had to be some reason for these books appearing in James's bedroom.

"The Slytherins are cheating even more than they usually do. They've gotten bold."

"That's no doubt Snape's fault," Sirius snapped. "He gives them points for _breathing_, so they think that they're untouchable." There was an unpleasant smile about his lips.

"Of course the Gryffindors have a heavily biased commentator," Remus pointed out quickly.

Sirius shrugged, and James said, "Maybe Dean and Hagrid were right, and they should change the rules some. At least for Hogwarts matches. That Katie Bell got hit in the back of the head by a bludger, so she could have _died_. That shouldn't happen at Hogwarts."

It obviously pained James to voice this thought.

"Maybe," Sirius said indifferently.

Remus offered James a small, encouraging smile. "It was very clever of Harry to catch the Snitch in his mouth, and just after he had been freed of that jinx too. He obviously can think fast on his feet."

"True." James looked more cheerful. "It was clever of him to go to the staffroom for that book too. If anyone other than Filch had been in there with Snape, he would have gotten it back with no fuss. Might even have learned that there was no such rule while he was there."

"The kid's tricky, in his own way," Sirius agreed. "It's a shame everybody was so dreadful about the Quidditch match. Even Seamus had to tell him that Seekers were usually targets. Some housemate."

"Who came up with that stupid line about mattresses?" James wondered. "I've heard much better."

"We all have," Remus said. "We've come up with much better too, and so has Harry."

The three of them shared a grimace while they thought of the awful line and all the better insults they had come up with over the years.

Remus and Sirius quickly recovered their good humour, but James didn't. Remus hoped that Harry would say something clever again soon or get into another duel with Malfoy, if only to cheer James up. His thoughts seemed to be sliding into the same direction they had after he first learned of his possible death. _This better be part of a plan to help us fix the future, or else._

"Why don't you read now, Sirius?" he asked quickly. "We do need to hurry up if we're going to read the next, er, six chapters before Mrs Potter comes home and Mr Potter finishes making dinner."

Sirius took the book from James.

"'The Mirror of Erised. Christmas was coming.'"


	12. The Mirror of Erised

**Chapter 12: The Mirror of Erised**

"'But then, he thought, as he shoved Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal question.' I'm beginning to think your kid's a bit thick, Prongs. _Of course_ Dumbledore wasn't telling him the truth."

"He's hesitant, not thick," James shot back. "The Dursleys made him doubt his own instincts. They even mocked him on _Christmas day_ when all he did was send them a note to say he wouldn't be darkening their door! Was it necessary to send him a fifty pence piece?" James obviously didn't know what it was, but he knew it wasn't a good thing.

"It was nice of the Weasleys to send him something," Sirius said, half as an apology. He had come around rather quickly, but he would, wouldn't he?

"It was. I wonder who sent Harry my Cloak."

"Could be anyone, couldn't it?" Sirius said. "It could have been me or Remus or Peter, or it could have been someone else."

"Why wouldn't you have introduced yourself if it were?"

"It'd be awkward. 'Hullo, Harry. I'm your dad's old mate. So sorry I wasn't there for you when your aunt and uncle were beating you from room to room, but I was fuck-knows-where. I hope you enjoyed the ride on my motorbike.' How would I put that in a letter?"

"You'd be more upfront about it than this. _Moony_ might play at mystery man."

"Oh, hush," Remus said. They laughed, so he changed the subject. "I see the kids are spending a lot of time in the library."

"Looking for Flamel in all the wrong places," Sirius pointed out.

"Mean of them to tease Hagrid," James said, but he obviously didn't see anything wrong with it in all honesty from his smile. "He can't help his inability to keep a secret."

"Harry goes to the library the first night he has the Cloak," Remus sing-songed.

James threw a pillow at him. "Yes, and the Restricted Section is not the place to go on your first outing! You build your way up to that. Sirius and I went to the kitchens our first time."

"We didn't find the kitchens, though, did we?" Sirius said mockingly.

"Remus, throw the pillow at Sirius."

He did, but Sirius only laughed and batted it out of his face.

"Why did Filch run to tell Snape anyway? He's not the headmaster."

"Git probably wishes he were. Power trip," Sirius said, answering Remus. "I wonder why Filch even indulges him. He never spared a kind thought for Snape before."

"It might be how Peeves is scared of the Bloody Baron," Remus suggested.

"It's a thought."

"Speaking of unpleasant people, I can't believe Pince still works there," James said. "I would have thought that the old bat would retire after some Ravenclaw hexed her too badly in a duel over a overdue book. Probably your girlfriend Osborn, Sirius."

Sirius blushed an ugly red.

"That reminds me of Hagrid and McGonagall," Remus cut in, which was probably not the best way to change the subject. "Who could have seen that coming?"

"The makers of alcohol, I reckon," Sirius said. "Everybody in this room has done worse than kiss McGonagall on the cheek while under the influence."

They did not share stories of that.

Remus had to change the subject once more. "It was lovely that Harry saw his family in the Mirror of Erised. I would bet that Petunia hasn't got any photos of Lily, so that was his first time seeing you all that he can remember. Ron was right to warn him, though, and Dumbledore too. Dreams can be very dangerous when they can't become real."

James fiddled with his glasses. "It was nice."

"The worst part of this chapter is that we now know Dumbledore can become invisible whenever he likes," Sirius said. "_What has he seen?_"

"If he even suspected that we were illegal animagi, he would have called us into his office by now," James said sensibly. "He might not know how yet, or he might have only found Harry because there were a lot less students around for the holidays."

"Fair point." Sirius ran his hand through his hair. "Your turn again, Remus."

"Right. 'Chapter Thirteen – Nicolas Flamel. Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again, and for the rest of the Christmas holidays the invisibility cloak stayed folded at the bottom of his trunk.'"


	13. Nicolas Flamel

**Chapter 13: Nicolas Flamel**

"'"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.' Huh. At least they finally know who Nicolas Flamel is," Remus said. "That was beginning to get tiresome."

"Beginning?" Sirius said. "I wanted to reach into the book and smack one of them. Why didn't they just ask another student if they had no idea? That prat Percy could have given them a complete biography, no doubt."

James nodded and echoed him, "No doubt. Harry isn't thick, _Sirius_, but he needs to think a little more. The Dursleys were awful to him, but surely he should have realised that he read Flamel's name on Dumbledore's chocolate frog card?"

"It isn't like the Philosopher's Stone is a secret."

"Yeah! It's kind of hard to hide the fact that someone has been alive for six centuries."

"He's _eleven_," Remus protested half-heartedly.

James accepted this begrudgingly. "The kids do think rather simplistically altogether."

"Yes, because they're kids."

"Let's talk about that Quidditch match," Sirius said with malicious glee. Remus couldn't blame him for once. "I hope our lad gave Snivellus a right scare when he flew past him. Git deserves it, trying to spoil Gryffindor's chances like that."

"Shameless," James agreed.

"Pathetic," Remus said.

"Harry's great at Quidditch, though, isn't he?" the proud father said. "Imagine, catching the Snitch in minutes! He could go professional if he wanted to. My mum did, and I bet the Arrows would love a legacy." His pride was not damaged at all by the fact that his son was not a Chaser. James Potter had an open heart.

"So great he made Snivellus cry," Sirius said, even though Snape hadn't cried. He had spat on the ground, which wasn't exactly the same thing. Or at all similar.

"Dumbledore complimented him even. He doesn't go to Quidditch matches often, and he made an exception for _Harry_."

"He made an exception because Harry nearly got killed the last time."

James waved Remus off. "I like Wood. He's fanatical but charmingly so."

"I like him more than the idea of Snape as a referee," Sirius said. He continued, "I'd like to note for the record that Snape not only bullies his own students but his fellow teachers as well. What a peach! He's another excellent hire for Hogwarts."

"I think he's using legilimency on Harry," Remus said.

"What's that?" James asked. Sirius had scrunched up his face like he half-remembered hearing the word before but not from where.

"It's mind reading, basically. My dad wrote a paper once on its possible uses in creature-taming, and he taught it to me. It feels a lot like Harry describes."

"What can he do to stop it?" James was obviously concerned.

"Occlumency, but it's difficult."

He wriggled his eyebrows. "Do you know it?"

"Yes," Remus said shortly.

He pointed a finger at him. "I expect to hear more about this later, Moony."

"I'm not looking forward to it."

James and Sirius laughed.

James then said, "Now that I'm thinking of it, what about Ron and Neville, eh? Gryffindor pride! I felt awful for Neville when Malfoy jinxed him, but he got his own back and then some."

"It was nice of Harry to give Neville his last chocolate frog, even if it did serve to advance the plot," Remus put in. James and Sirius nodded.

"The kid's memory is astonishing," Sirius broke in. "I know we mentioned it before, but he was just a baby when this James and Evans were killed. It's bizarre that he can remember it."

"It's probably the dark magic," James explained. "I don't think it's possible for anyone – even Harry Potter – to remember what happened when he was a baby normally."

"Point. Nasty thing to remember, though."

James made a thoughtful noise. Remus suspected that he was purposefully changing the subject. "My turn, Remus. Pass it over. – 'Chapter Fourteen – Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback. Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought.'"


	14. Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

**Chapter 14: Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback**

"'They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.' Well, that was stupid of them."

Remus and Sirius didn't disagree. They both moved to say something, but both withdrew before a sound could come out. Remus gestured for Sirius to speak. He was politer and had more patience.

"Hagrid's mental, isn't he?"

"Possibly," James allowed.

"How willingly blind must he be to ignore the fact that dragons are _dangerous_ and _illegal?_ He is all but set aflame by this _thing_, and yet he goes on, prattling about being its _mummy_. I know that he's always wanted a dragon, but even he has to acknowledge that they're impractical as pets!"

"Hagrid's understanding of dangerous creatures is different than ours," James said.

Sirius's jaw set mulishly. "That dragon bit Ron. I'm _sure_ that dragon bites are good for people."

"Madam Pomfrey will set it to rights."

"I agree with Sirius," Remus said. The others looked at him, and he flushed a little. _I've agreed with Sirius before._ "Hagrid was more concerned about Norbert than he was about Ron when the dragon bit him. I think he's being careless and thoughtless, and we have to acknowledge that."

"Hagrid's a good bloke," James insisted.

"Yes, and a thoughtless one."

Sirius turned to Remus. "What were you going to say, mate?"

"Oh. I was going to bring up Ron and Hermione's different attitudes towards Hagrid when they try to get information out of him. Well, Ron only brings up the fact that they now have the information, but he and the others probably were going to seek out more information then like they would later." He scratched his head and wondered how to word this. "Ron bluntly tells Hagrid all that they know, _publicly_, which ends in Hagrid ending the conversation abruptly. Which is amusing because he's about as secretive as Hagrid is. Hermione is sneakier and flatters him into giving up all of the information that they need. Hermione wins, in fact probably because she comes at him in a way he's unfamiliar with. Hagrid is too bluff for flattery."

"He's also a bit thick, thinking that Snape is innocent," Sirius said.

"I don't know about that. I'm beginning to think Snape is a red herring."

"_What?_" He was almost certainly going to turn Snape into a red herring the second they went back to Hogwarts.

"A character that's used to distract from the real culprit, or the like," Remus explained. "It's a bit more complicated than that, but it will serve as a definition for now."

"Moony, you read too much," James said seriously.

"Thank you for your concern." Remus rolled his eyes. "I guess now we know why everybody kept going on about Charlie Weasley. All of them talk about him like he's a legend even though he could have only left Hogwarts a few years ago. It was all building up to when he became useful to the plot."

"Makes sense," Sirius said. "I wonder how his mates got to the Astronomy Tower when there are all those protective enchantments that Ravenclaw put up."

"Dumbledore must have lowered them. He does know a lot about what goes on in Hogwarts."

"Not everything, and if he did lower the enchantments, then he should have done more."

"Maybe."

James stretched and said, "We're getting closer to the end. That's why everything is beginning to come together."

"Undoubtedly," Remus said.

"I hope Malfoy gets his comeuppance soon then. Little twit deserves more than a black eye after he tattled on Hagrid and on Harry and Hermione. And I can't believe Ron handed over the _one_ book that had Charlie's letter in it."

"He just got bit by a dragon."

"Still."

Now it was Sirius's turn to roll his eyes. "Hand over the book, Moony. I want to know what is going to happen now. Maybe Malfoy will get his comeuppance, but I doubt it, Prongs. Malfoys can always slip out of trouble. Trust me on that one."

"You really hate Malfoys," James said with an eyebrow raised.

"You would too if you had to listen to my mum and my uncle Cygnus argue over whether a Malfoy is an appropriate spouse for a member of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black."

"Who won?" Remus asked.

"Narcissa, of course. Her dad would give her the moon if he could, the spoiled brat."

"I see that passed on to the next generation," James muttered.

Sirius read out: "'The Forbidden Forest. Things couldn't have been worse.'"


	15. The Forbidden Forest

**Chapter 15: The Forbidden Forest**

"'There was a note pinned to it: _Just in case_.'" Sirius finished reading with a single eyebrow raised. "I think that you must have lent the cloak to Dumbledore, mate, but God only knows why."

"Yeah, it'd have to be Dumbledore, wouldn't it? I wouldn't have lent it to McGonagall, Flitwick, or Sprout, and I think I would rather die than lend it to Snape. I can't think of anyone else I could have given it to."

"It was generous of him to give it back to Harry," Remus said. "Dumbledore must have known what Harry and Hermione were up to that night, or else he wouldn't have."

"Very true," James said. "McGonagall lays in on thick in the beginning of the chapter, doesn't she? I happen to know that she's seen worse than four first years out after curfew. I think we're responsible for a lot of knowledge she has, in fact."

"She isn't grateful, surprisingly."

"Ingratitude is the worst of her sins." James shook his head with a heavy sigh and barely managed to hide his grin. "It isn't like she can blame them for the point loss. She's the one who took the points off of Gryffindor. If she wanted to have Gryffindor be in the running for the House Cup, then she should have took less points off them all."

Sirius was in agreement with his best mate, unsurprisingly. "Why is everyone acting like it's the end of the school year already, anyway? They have weeks according to Hermione's study schedule, and it isn't like there are only two houses at Hogwarts. What are Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff doing?"

"Nothing, apparently," Remus said. "They seem to have given up. There's no reason for the reader to suspect that they are that far behind Slytherin – no evidence is given in the text at least –, so they ought to be just as happy as Slytherin are that Gryffindor is down one hundred and fifty points."

"They should try to win," James said with a small frown. "Connolly and Shacklebolt and Bateman and Falk would never let their houses give up so easily. Neither would you, Remus, or Lily. You wouldn't let the whole house team up against three first years either."

"Of course not. What is Percy Weasley doing?"

"Fuck all," Sirius answered succinctly.

Remus gave him a look that combined agreement with disapproval as neatly as could be done in a single expression. "Is it just me, or are the Slytherins more obvious than usual? Avery and Mulciber would hex a first-year, sure, but they wouldn't shout out taunts in the Great Hall. That's how people get _caught._"

"Snape has been encouraging them for years, and Harry's famous."

"Hmm."

"What about those centaurs, eh?" James interrupted Remus's thoughts on the matter. "Those two, Bane and Ronan, were useless, but Firenze seems cool. I like him."

"What was that under the cloak?" Remus asked instead. That was the more pressing matter to him, not whether a centaur was cool or useless and morose. "I know Firenze said it was Voldemort but _how?_" He had a lot of other questions on that topic too.

His mates could only shrug. Remus decided it was time to introduce a new idea.

"I'm beginning to think that Quirrell is the baddie."

"This again?" There was a loud sigh.

_Trust Sirius,_ he thought half-fondly. "Snape is too obviously the baddie. A red herring, like I said. I think all of Snape's conversations with Quirrell can be interpreted to mean that Snape is trying to stop him from getting the Philosopher's Stone. We conveniently only hear the bits that make it look like Snape is the guilty one instead because the author – J.K. Rowling, whoever he is – wants us to suspect Snape."

It was definitely a book meant for younger readers.

"That's nonsense."

"Remus might have a point," James owned. "We'll have to read on to find out. I kind of agree that it is too obvious that Snape is the villain. Come on, it's _Snape_. Of course we'd suspect him. But not all of the villains in the world are ugly and greasy and unpleasant."

"So this book is intended to teach children that painful truth?" Sirius was definitely mocking them, in a friendly sort of way. He mocked everyone.

"Maybe," James said.

"It's just as well then that's it's Remus's turn to read then. Moony can put his wonderful talent for impersonations to good use and make us believe that Severus Snape is in fact a wonderful bloke who has only ever wanted to be Harry's very best friend."

Remus blushed at the reference. "I'm not _that_ awful at impersonations."

"You really are," James said. "Read."

Remus sighed. "'Chapter Sixteen – Through the Trapdoor. In years to come –"

"_Promising_," James said.

"– Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment.'"


	16. Through the Trapdoor

**Chapter 16: Through the Trapdoor**

"'There was already someone there – but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.'" Remus held back an exclamation. He _knew_ it was Professor Quirrell, but the text had yet to say as much. It was better to play it safe until he had confirmation.

"Speaking of impersonations, Harry's is pretty good. Of the Bloody Baron," Sirius added, as though Harry had gone on a spree of impersonating people in that chapter.

"He convinced Peeves," James said. No one was sure if that meant anything or not. "Remus, mate, I think you're right about Quirrell. Snape _is_ too suspicious."

Remus didn't accept this. "We know now that it wasn't him."

James ignored him. "I think he _makes_ himself suspicious. I wonder why."

"To be a twat," Sirius said.

"Possibly. _Probably_."

Remus was half convinced. "I'm worried about Harry's scar. Not even curse scars should pain their – er – possessor ten years after they're created."

"We'll learn more about it, no doubt." James cast a look at the six books still in a stack.

"_I'm_ worried about Hagrid's mouth. Now he's told someone how to get past Fluffy." Sirius tried to stretch, but there wasn't enough roof. They were all stiff after hours sitting on James's bedroom floor. "It isn't so bad when he's telling Harry, Ron, and Hermione things, but strangers in the Hog's Head? The man needs a Silencing Charm."

"Those protections were weak anyway," James said dismissively. "Three first years got past them with few problems, and the only two that could have stumped them were McGonagall's and Snape's – but they had Ron and Hermione with them."

"They were softened up for them." Remus didn't even convince himself then. A bent wing and an unconscious troll didn't help them out _that_ much. Harry and Ron had proven them capable of dealing with a troll before, and Harry was a good enough flyer that he could have managed the keys without too much trouble. (Or so Remus assumed, having never seen him fly personally.)

"I wonder why McGonagall had so much faith in them. She's not an unreasonable woman, but she was going to take fifty points from Gryffindor for _trying to help?_"

"She was probably annoyed," Remus said, but it was a weak defence. When James turned to look at him, scepticism in his eyes, he added, "She needs to sort out her priorities, sure."

James scoffed. "You can say that again. "

"I shan't."

"Brave of Neville," Sirius said. "Stupid of him, but brave too. He should have known not to try and pick a fight with Hermione."

"Perhaps. Here's the book, James."

"Thanks, mate." James cleared his throat. "The final chapter, lads. 'Chapter Seventeen – The Man With Two Faces. It was Quirrell.'"

Remus smirked to himself.


	17. The Man With Two Faces

This is (obviously) the last chapter of _Philosopher's Stone_, and I'm taking a break before I begin posting _Chamber of Secrets_. It will be perhaps two weeks until I can post again because midterms and other real life concerns, but I promise to get to it sooner rather than later. My notes are half-complete, and then I only need to write it.

Thank you everyone for your kind reviews, your favorites, and your follows. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 17: The Man With Two Faces<strong>

"'"_They_ don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer."' Poor kid. Petunia knows, and he's going to try something, isn't he?"

"Maybe," Remus said, but he couldn't help but think that Harry was too kind. He would use it as a threat for his own safety, no more and no less. "Petunia might be afraid enough of magic altogether to be frightened of the possibility – or of his friends and their parents."

"I wonder if she's scared of Lily now."

Remus had no idea. Lily didn't discuss personal matters with him. "Interesting ending, wasn't it?"

"Tell me about it. Dumbledore just destroys the _Philosopher's Stone_? Like it was nothing? And I'm going to save Snape's life?"

"_Very_ interesting," Remus amended. He couldn't imagine a world where that happened unless the Slytherin started drowning in the Lake. James's natural heroism couldn't resist that, but he certainly could not go out of his way to save him, not after reading of him bullying Harry and Neville. "I was referring to a certain climax."

Sirius sat up. Naturally. "Whatsit?"

"The confrontation in the chamber," he explained. "I can't figure out whether I'm more disgusted by Voldemort's possession of Quirrell or amazed at all the oddities in his encounter with Voldemort."

"Talk," James ordered, pointing at him.

"Alright. He says that Lily needn't have died."

James gave him an expectant look. "Yes?"

"She's a _muggle-born_. Surely she of all people would be a target for him. I would have understood if he had wanted to spare _you_, James. You're a pureblood from an old family and a powerful wizard, but he should have wanted Lily dead because she proves his bigotry wrong and because she just offends him."

"That is weird," Sirius said.

"And why did he go for these Potters anyway? _Personally? _He must've had more important targets than the parents of a young child. I'm sure you and Lily were fighting him, James, but he has followers who he treats as mercilessly as he does his enemies. Send some of them after the Potters, right?"

"Don't give him advice, mate," James said dryly.

Remus waved a hand in dismissal. "On top of that Voldemort survives what appears to have been a rebounding Killing Curse, and he then burns at Harry's touch. Well, Quirrell does. Or they both do."

"Quirrellmort does," Sirius supplied. Remus allowed it.

"It just doesn't add up," Remus said. "That mother's love explanation doesn't make any sense. I'm positive that lots of mothers and fathers have died for their children during the war, and it isn't like any of those kids are the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Six more books, Moony," James said. "I'm sure it will make sense. Eventually."

"I guess we'll be reading a lot more, then."

"Going back to Snape," Sirius began. _Of course_. "Why doesn't anyone tell Harry that he was friends with Evans? Harry might not believe them at this point, but everybody talks about how you and Snape were enemies freely enough."

"I doubt they're friends now," Remus said a trifle sharply. He didn't exactly blame James and Sirius for what Snape said after the Defence exam, but he had noted that Snape lost his only friend during an incident they had begun. Still, they couldn't be blamed for his bigotry. Only Snape could answer for that – and Lily, it seemed. She didn't have any good friends amongst the Gryffindor girls, he had noticed, only acquaintances. So it looked like she was alone now.

James winced. "Maybe that's the real reason why Snape wanted to protect Harry. A life debt is well and good, but most would consider it cancelled out when I died. This James died. Protecting Lily's child is a better reason, I think."

"It would be if he weren't an arse to Harry," Sirius said.

Remus agreed with him, but he saw that James was busy mulling it all over. Instead he said, in a falsely light voice, "I was right about Quirrell, you know."

"Shut it, Moony."

James wagged his finger. "Let's not fight."

"Introduce a new subject then."

"Dumbledore. Why did I lend him my cloak?"

"Ask future you. Of course, future you didn't tell him that much about it if he thinks you only used it to sneak into the kitchens," Sirius replied promptly. "How did he know when Harry would wake up?"

"Dumbledore knows a lot of what goes on in Hogwarts," Remus said. "And Madam Pomfrey might have Floo'd him to tell him that Harry was coming around. Why did he give the extra points to Gryffindor at the feast? He had to have known it would upset the Slytherins."

"Who cares if they're upset?"

"It's unfair. They all have known what went on for three days, and now Dumbledore hands out the points when everyone is assembled. It looks like he's mocking their house, and Slytherins don't react well to mockery. The points were deserved, yes, but they should have been given privately."

James looked torn. "I guess."

"And Ravenclaw was only fifty points behind Slytherin. They could have tried harder," he added as a concession.

"They were probably too busy gossiping about Harry." Sirius snorted.

"It isn't like people can't keep a secret in Hogwarts," James said, smiling at them both knowingly. Normal students probably couldn't keep werewolves and animagi secret from the masses, though. Theirs were an unusual sort of secrets that _forced_ them to keep it quiet.

"I'm just glad Neville got some recognition," Remus said. The poor boy deserved it.

James opened his mouth to respond.

"James! Sirius! Remus!" Mr Potter called. "Supper!"

"And-the-photo-album-was-a-nice-touch," James said before the three of them jumped to their feet and rushed downstairs. They had skipped lunch in order to keep reading, and they were starving now.

They would have to finish their discussion later.

* * *

><p>Supper was an awkward affair. Usually Remus got on well with his friends' parents – with the sole exception of Walburga and Orion Black –, but it was a different matter when they had secrets to keep.<p>

(It had been James who had stopped them in the midst of their descent and said, "We should keep this to ourselves. For now." Neither Remus nor Sirius had disagreed.)

Mrs Potter, the deputy head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, complained about work for a while until she finished telling the saga of how unwilling everyone was to investigate the Wasps for what they suspected from corruption from the top to the bottom. Then she turned to her son and asked, "What did you boys do today? It rained, your dad said."

James faltered, and a piece of potato fell back into his bowl of stew. "We read."

Her eyebrow arched. "You _read?_" She seemed more surprised than suspicious, and she decided to tease her son. "I do hope that you weren't _studying_. There's plenty of time to study before you go back to school, and you just finished your OWL's."

"Now, now, Effy," Mr Potter said. "Education is very important."

"Yes, but uncharacteristic of James and Sirius. _Remus_ is our studier."

Remus had never imagined that he was Mr and Mrs Potter's _anything_, truth be told, so he blushed and stayed silent. Sirius answered, "We do study! Sometimes."

"I'm sure, darling," Mrs Potter said. "What did you read today, though?"

"Some kids' books," James said with a shrug. "We started talking about what we read as kids, and we found some old books in my room. They don't really hold up."

"Of course not. They were intended for _children_, and you are _teenagers._"

Mr Potter chuckled. "I'm surprised that you stayed still for so long, but it's a good thing. You will have to find more old books to keep yourselves entertained – and out of trouble – because this rain isn't supposed to stop for another two days, and then the ground is going to be like soup."

James caught Remus's eye and grinned. "We'll manage, Dad."

"Well, don't destroy the broomshed. We need that."

"We _won't_, Dad."

Mr Potter, who hadn't noticed that they hadn't eaten lunch, complimented them on their appetites and looked rather pleased with his own cooking, and Mrs Potter sent them off with the fond exasperation of everyone who loved James and Sirius when James excused them from the table. "There will be pudding," his dad promised, and James said they would be back down in an hour or so.

They hurried back up to James's room, where they collapsed on James's bed.

"Should we tell them?" James wondered aloud. He was not a fan of dissembling to his parents, like Remus, and the situation did not seem to require his gift for half-lies.

Sirius shook his head. "The books were sent to us for a reason."

"Yeah, and what reason was that?" No one knew. "Where's the note from E.R.L?"

Remus fished it out from where it had fallen and read: "'M&P&P – I think this may come in useful. Sincerely, E.R.L.' It gives nothing away. Lots of what we learned could be deemed _useful_, but to what use are we supposed to put it?"

James shrugged. "We'll have to read on, I suppose."

He looked for some time at the stack of books on what was nominally James's desk but which had become the central depository for their cartography efforts with the exception of the stack of seven books. _One for each year at Hogwarts_, Remus thought. It was as promising a thought as that one line about Harry having "years to come" in which to think about his first-year exams.

"I think our biggest question is: Who is E.R.L.? Is he on our side or not?"

"It's impossible to know," James answered. Remus didn't enjoy hearing it, though he had known it himself. "At least for now. We have to read on." His jaw was set in that kingly manner again.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, looking less effortlessly attractive for once and more anxious. "Hand over the next book, Prongs. Let's see what we can learn from that now."

"We're not reading it tonight," Remus said.

"Course not. We have to eat pudding with Mr and Mrs Potter and then sleep." Sirius took the book from James. "Thanks, mate. – But we can figure out where this is going. _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_. Huh. Do you think he's going to learn the truth about a major wizarding myth or the like in every book? What are the rest called."

James squatted down to look at the spines. He read off: "_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows._"

"That's a no, then. The Deathly Hallows, though. That's interesting."

"It's the last book."

"We'll get there," Sirius said, waving his free hand dismissively.

Remus considered the book titles as well. "Isn't the Goblet of Fire what they use to determine the competitors in the Triwizard Tournament?"

"The whatsit?"

Remus was surprised. James seemed the type to know all about eternal glory.

"Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons compete," Sirius said disinterestedly while he skimmed the back of _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_. "A Black competed once and got trampled to death. I think it was a manticore who did it."

"Your family is bizarre," James said matter-of-factly. Sirius grinned and didn't disagree.

"This book is thicker than _Philosopher's Stone_," Sirius said, holding up _Chamber of Secrets_. "We'll need to wake up early because I'm not skipping lunch two days in a row."

James made a face. "Alright." He was not a morning person.

Remus, who was, said, "James, we should hide the books just in case one of your parents come in unexpectedly. Under the bed?"

"Sounds good," James agreed, and he took all the books except _Chamber of Secrets_ and put them underneath his bed. "We should go down and ask now for pudding before they begin to think something's wrong. We don't want Dad in here tomorrow, making sure we're all alright."

Sirius hid _Chamber of Secrets_ underneath a disguised drawing of the sixth floor, and they went to have chocolate cake.


	18. The Worst Birthday

Hey, guys! How have the last eighteen months of your life been? Mine's been pretty hectic, which is why I didn't manage to make my goal to post _Chamber of Secrets _back in March 2014. Sorry! COS is finished now, thankfully, and it will be posted daily until it's all up. I hope _Prisoner of Azkaban_ goes more smoothly, but I've learned my lesson: _Don't make promises._

I've gone through all my reviews on FFN and AO3 (the only two places I publish this), and I've tried to answer everyone's concerns in this first chapter. I'm pleased to say that I had planned to address most of them anyway, but – well, there was a year and a half delay.

_I am so sorry._

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><p><strong>Chapter 18: The Worst Birthday<strong>

They had set an alarm to wake up early the next morning, and they went down to have breakfast with Mr and Mrs Potter. Mr Potter said that he didn't want to know what they were up to, waking this early, and Mrs Potter warned them that it was going to be pouring again.

"We're going to say inside," James said so casually that his mum got suspicious.

"Well, don't destroy the house. I've gotten rather fond of it over the last four decades."

"Thirty-six years!" Mr Potter corrected her with a James-like glint in his eyes. "I've lived in this house my whole life, and I wouldn't mind seeing it utterly destroyed. I, for one, think it's in dire need of a paint job."

"You do not need it destroyed before you paint a house, Fleamont! If you want it painted, hire someone!"

The couple then spent the rest of breakfast bickering in a good-natured way before Mrs Potter had to go to work and Mr Potter said that he would be in his office until lunch. "Knock if you need anything, and I'll give a shout when lunch is ready," he said, and he disappeared to go finish an article on stirring techniques.

The three of them headed upstairs in a calculatedly unhurried fashion, and Remus shut the door firmly behind them while James reached underneath his bed for the next book in the series: _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets._

"I wonder what's going to happen next," James said before blowing off some dust.

"He's going into the Chamber of Secrets, obviously," Sirius said.

"Maybe, maybe not." Remus had laid awake for an hour or two last night, considering these strange circumstances they had found themselves in. "Are we sure these books are the real thing? This E.R.L. could be tricking us."

"Why?" James asked.

_Trust James to trust everybody._ "I don't know yet. I figure that they've predicted a likely outcome from our reading the books, and they want us to react in that way. But I can't imagine what it is they want us to do, yet."

"Tell us when you do deduce it, okay?"

"And till then, stop acting like it's some novel you picked up for three knuts at _Flourish & Blotts_," Sirius added, and James grinned but didn't disagree.

Remus studied his friends. James believed that the books were real, but he was willing to accept that they might be fakes if Remus could prove it. Sirius would go along with James, if only because he wasn't that attached to Harry right now. He sympathised, sure, but Harry was no more than a boy in a bad living situation to him, not _James's son._

And James thought of Harry as his son.

Remus had to admit that, as much as he liked Harry, he wasn't too involved either. It'd be different if _he_ were to show up in these books, or at least be mentioned (or so he assumed), but so far the only Marauder to garner anything like that except for James himself was Sirius, and he was only mentioned in the first chapter as Hagrid's motorcycle owner.

_Where were they?_ They wouldn't abandon James's son to the tender mercies of Petunia and Vernon Dursley if they were around, would they? Remus couldn't do much without risking exposure of his condition, but Sirius and Peter should be helping out.

Unless they were all dead.

"Who is this E.R.L. anyway?" James asked as he read the note again. "There's nothing to go off of except these initials. We don't even know if they're a man or not!"

"There's plenty of reasons to keep their identity a secret," Remus pointed out, and both his friends agreed to that. Time travel was illegal, and they were pretty sure books counted just as much as humans did.

"I thought about something last night," Sirius said, almost unwillingly.

"What's that?" James asked.

"Remember how Dumbledore said that you're going to save Snape's life? Well, what if you already have?"

"I think that I'd remember if I had saved Severus Snape's life," James snorted.

Sirius persisted, and Remus was twistedly pleased to see how awkward he was with the subject. "You did, though. You stopped him from going underneath the Whomping Willow last year."

"That does _not_ count as saving his life."

Remus bit the side of his cheek. "You stopped him from coming face-to-face with a werewolf, so yes, it does."

James shook his head, looking more like his dad during one of his sceptical moments than ever before. (_James is someone's dad, in this book_, Remus thought with a flash of... _something_.) "You wouldn't have killed him. You're not a murderer, Moony."

Again Remus and Sirius were in charity with one another as they looked at James like he was off his head.

"James, I'm a _werewolf_," he said in a low voice. "I wasn't in control. Whether or not I am intrinsically a murderer or not – which is another thing we need to address, later –, a werewolf could and would easily kill someone."

"We'll agree to disagree," James said, and Remus didn't understand his friend. But it wasn't the first time he had found one of his friends to be completely and utterly bizarre.

"Alright then," Sirius said. "Shall we begin with the summary?"

"Yeah, and then you get to read the first chapter," James replied.

Sirius took the book from him and shrugged before reading out loud: "'Harry Potter's summer has included the worst birthday ever, doomy warnings from a house-elf called Dobby, and rescue from the Dursleys by his friend Ron Weasley in a magical flying car! Back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his second year, Harry hears strange whispers echo through empty corridors – and then the attacks start. Students are found as though turned to stone. Dobby's sinister predictions seem to be coming true.' Any thoughts before we begin properly, Remus, James? _Remus_?"

Remus glared.

James tried to smother his smile and said, "No, we're good. Nothing we won't find out reading. Carry on, Padfoot."

"Right on. 'Chapter One. The Worst Birthday. Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive.'"

* * *

><p>"'The trouble was, there was already someone sitting on it.' Who in the hell is sitting on your twelve-year-old son's bed, James?"<p>

"I wish I knew," James said like this was a matter he needed to go and address, right this moment. He was halfway to being the father of the year.

"We'll find out next chapter." Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm hoping that it's Ron. Hermione isn't the sort to sneak into his room. And I can't believe that they would abandon him like this." It was uncharacteristic of them both, especially all they had gone through in the first book. You didn't follow someone when they went to find the Philosopher's Stone and then leave them by the wayside over the summer holidays.

"It's not like them."

Sirius agreed, then said, "I can't believe that _no one_ would send him something. Hagrid, even. He brought him a cake last year, and he couldn't be bothered to send a card this year? It isn't... _right_."

"Speaking of not right, _Vernon and Petunia._"

"And Dudley," Remus added. Twelve or not, the kid was a monster.

James was not to be deterred in complaining about his in-laws. "Locking up Hedwig! It's cruelty to animals _and_ stupid. What's the worst Harry can do, send letters? Good! They want to see the back of him, so let him communicate with his friends. They'd invite him to spend all his summers with them if they knew _half_ of what the Dursleys did. – Can you imagine what Ron would do if he knew that Petunia had tried to kill him with a frying pan and then by feeding him bread and cheese, like some sort of a prisoner? Poor Harry's working like a house-elf too, and he isn't getting any of his schoolwork done either. – The whole family is awful! _Abnormality_. I wish Dudley had been born a wizard, see how the bigots react to that – no, I wouldn't wish Dudley at school with him on Harry. He doesn't deserve that. Hogwarts is the only home the poor kid knows. – The Masons are idiots if they believe a second of their nonsense. I can't believe that anyone would make a kid sit in silence in his room rather than eat supper. You know they'd rather die than take Harry with them on holiday if they get their precious holiday home in Majorca... _And how stupid do you have to be to think that 'the magic word' is a threat?_"

"Very stupid," Sirius said while James attempted to regain his breath. "Shame Harry isn't much of a prankster, or he could get his revenge on them. Sabotage Petunia's begonias."

"That likely _would_ get him killed," Remus said grimly. "But Petunia has to know students aren't allowed to magic over the summer holidays, but she's letting him taunt Dudley without a word of complaint. Besides the frying pan. What is she up to?"

"Does she? She might have forgotten, or Evans might have forgotten to mention it."

Remus nodded in James's direction. _Point._

Sirius shook his head. "We didn't really need the summary of everything that went on in _Philosopher's Stone, _though, did we?"

"Some people might." Remus prodded the spine of the book. "It was obviously intended for publication, true or not. You don't bind books like that for only three people."

"Guess not. Still, not much happened this chapter."

"There was one good thing," Remus said as he took the book from Sirius. "Harry did get in a good line about Dudley knowing the days of the week."

As expected, this cheered up James and Sirius immensely. They liked Harry's wit, and it was good to remind them that he gave as good as Dudley could give, although his verbal attacks were lost on the ape.

James's smile quickly faded, however. "No wonder it's called 'The Worst Birthday.'"

"It'll get better. See, this one's called... er, 'Dobby's Warning.'"

"How is that better?"

Remus pointedly looked down. "We'll have to find out. 'Harry managed not to shout out, but it was a close thing.'"


	19. Dobby's Warning

Thanks for your kind words! I'm not too crazy about this chapter, but I did my best (without taking an extra day and completely gutting it).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19: Dobby's Warning<strong>

"'Ron Weasley was outside Harry's window.' Oh, _thank God!_"

"Good old Ron!" James said a bit too loudly, and he ducked his head like he expected Mr Potter to charge in and begin asking about this Ron.

Sirius clapped him on the back as if he were standing in for Ron. "The Dursleys are still dreadful, and the Ministry isn't exactly on its best behaviour either. Why would they send a letter to a muggle household without seeing if there were muggles not in the know there?"

"They're all idiots, Mum says," James pronounced.

Lyall Lupin said much the same, but Remus chimed in and said, "How can they not know the difference between the Trace going off and Elfish magic?" It seemed like something they'd want to keep straight, if only to prevent poor pureblooded darlings from getting expelled because Urisk did the washing up in their presence.

No one knew, and they took the opportunity to roundly abuse the Ministry of Magic, the International Statute of Secrecy, and the fact that they were all sixteen.

"This house-elf, though," Sirius said. "Do you believe him? He seems mental, or he's on orders from someone. This whole 'Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts business' is like Draco Malfoy's fantasy. And the way he's going about it – He's going to get Harry _killed_ as soon as get him expelled, and I don't think he can tell the difference. There's stealing his letters, and there's deliberately getting him in trouble with the Dursleys _and_ the Ministry. "

Remus had thought much the same and said so.

"I can't _believe_ he stole Harry's letters! Ron and Hermione have been writing him all this time, and here Harry thought no one cared about his birthday. Except Ron." James hardly could have been prouder if Ron Weasley presented himself then and there to his future best friend's father. James probably would shake his hand so hard it'd fall off.

"Who _is_ his master?" Remus wondered. _This Dobby_... He wasn't ready to declare him a baddie and go home, but something was up.

His friends shrugged.

Sirius shook his head. "What about all this nonsense Dobby says about Harry being in mortal danger? That's what Harry _does_, and I'm sure the next five books will prove that over and over again."

"Can't say I'm too thrilled about it, but he's alright so far," James said. "Characters keep saying that Dumbledore is too _noble_ to comprehend evil. It's a bit odd that people keep banging on about it."

"S'weird," Sirius agreed. "Almost as weird as Dobby's refusal to give a straight answer. I hope Voldemort _doesn't_ have a brother, you know. Your son's got a wicked imagination, James Fleamont, and I'll never forgive you if Voldemort Minor shows up."

"Dudley's already in the book, Padfoot."

Remus shuddered as he thought about the abuse the Dursleys had piled on, abuse sure to get worse over next summer when they _knew_ that Harry couldn't do magic outside of school. Unless he never went back. "It's a good thing Ron came before Vernon could kill him."

"Yeah."

James swallowed. "My turn, right? At least this time we _know_ it's going to be cheerful, and sure enough, it's called 'The Burrow.' Sounds friendly. '"_Ron_!" breathed Harry, creeping to the window and pushing it up so they could talk through the bars.'"


	20. The Burrow

**Chapter 20: The Burrow**

"'Ron's ears went pink.' There, see! Everything's worked out alright, and he can appeal the warning with the Ministry. They'll have to let him off, he's the Boy-Who-Lived."

Sirius gave a sigh of relief. "God bless the Weasleys. Can't believe they flew that car all the way from Devon to Surrey, especially if the anti-tampering laws are going to get worse, but good on them."

"It's _wicked_," James agreed, and Remus wondered whether they were thinking about their plan to build a flying motorcycle. Their apparently successful plan, at that. "I'm surprised that Mr Weasley knew about the whole underage magic thing. And that he was talking about it at home. He's in a different department, and it's gotta be against the law or something."

"He knew that Harry and Ron are friends. Besides he comes home talking about work, so it can't be all that hush-hush," Remus said. "I like the Weasleys. They have their flaws, sure, but they obviously care about Harry and love each other."

"Ginny most of all. Someone has a _crush_," Sirius said. He was teasing a girl who wouldn't be born for years and years, the prat.

"Well, who can blame her?" James asked proudly.

Sirius swatted at him, but James dodged. "Her mum, too. This Lockhart sounds like an absolute tosser, though. Who needs a book to figure out how to degnome a garden? It's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?"

Sirius had never degnomed a garden before he came to live with the Potters, but he was the sort of person who liked to pretend that he had lowlier antecedents than he in fact did. The Blacks were perfectly willing to agree with him on this, if you considered their silence an assent, so there was no one to protest Sirius's working-class pretensions except Remus.

Remus left it alone. This time.

"Good arm, our Harry," James said. "He'd make a great Chaser."

"He's a Seeker, and I'm pretty sure he's great at that."

Remus cut in. "Can you believe Ron supports the Cannons? Unless they start doing really well in the next decade or two, it's a wonder why _anyone_ supports them."

"Optimism." Sirius grinned. "What about their Malfoy theory, eh? If Draco is Lucius and Narcissa's son, I wouldn't put it past him to set his house-elf to screw over Harry, but it seems too convenient. It's like Quirrell last book."

Remus was proud that someone was learning literary analysis. "Is Draco actually worse than Dudley? Harry says so, but I don't see any difference."

"One's got magic. He can do more damage."

"Suppose."

James flipped through the chapter again briefly. "I think we've covered how awful the Dursleys are, but they keep making a play for dreadfulness. Keeping Harry's stuff locked up is cold, and why are they so bothered when Harry makes a run for it? You'd think that they'd be happy to see the back of him."

"They're awful people," Sirius said in a too-practised tone of voice.

"Yeah." He then remembered another bit of foolishness his son had gotten into. "_How did Harry forget his owl?_ Is he trying to borrow trouble? How _do_ you forget an owl? It's alive!"

Remus felt the need to defend him. "He had a lot to think about at the moment, and he didn't exactly have a lot of time to plan his move. Hopefully it's permanent. I don't want him to go back next summer, or the summers after that."

"Hopefully, mate."

James glanced about. "Anything else?"

"Percy's acting weird, but that's it," Sirius put in. "Hand over the book, Prongs, it's my turn. 'At Flourish and Blotts.' _Ooh. _'Life at the Burrow was as different as possible from life on Privet Drive.'"


	21. At Flourish and Blotts

**Chapter 21: At Flourish and Blotts**

"'It definitely wasn't his favourite way to travel.' At least we know that the Malfoys are definitely up to _something_. Problem is, they always are."

"_And_ we know Draco's grades aren't good enough for the precious prefect."

Sirius and James exchanged grins.

Remus rolled his eyes. "_Regardless_. I find it strange that they're so open in their attacks on Harry and the Weasleys. I would think that former Death Eaters would be more circumspect around the Boy-Who-Lived, and the Weasleys are clearly allies of his. It's like they want to get arrested."

"Maybe Lucius wants to see family," Sirius suggested. Remus remembered hearing about a Malfoy uncle or cousin getting taken to Azkaban a few years ago, but Sirius would've known more about it than the papers.

"I like Ginny defending Harry," James said. "I'm not too crazy about Arthur going on and on about muggle tech. He _frightened_ the Grangers, which can't be too good for cooperation."

"For someone whose job it is to deal with muggles and their technology day in and day out, he knows very little about them," Remus agreed. "Still the Weasleys are good people, and they obviously care about Harry. I wish they had said... _anything_ about the bars on Harry's window. Ron and the twins took them with, right?"

James nodded.

"They should have say something."

Sirius's reaction to this was unreadable. "They said too much when they were walking him through the Floo. They scared him off, which made him land in the wrong grate. They've gone and made him _afraid._"

"_Disinclined_. There are other ways to travel."

"And awkward. It's not his fault that Prongs and Evans left him rich."

James answered: "No, but it can be uncomfortable to be from a different class than your friends. And they're spending a lot of money. It's got to be against the rules to make students buy multiple books by a teacher. And they're all expensive. It's immoral."

"They're desperate. They had to send out the letters in August because they're running out of people stupid enough to take the job."

"Defence is going to be terrible this year. Lockhart obviously doesn't know anything, and he shouldn't be grabbing students like that just because they're _famous._" Sirius grimaced. "Poor kid. You know it's going to be worse for him than the rest."

Remus could accept Professor Slughorn's favouritism because he picked students who he believed had something special. Harry was famous. Sure, Remus and James and Sirius liked him, but Lockhart had only just met him.

Remus elected to ignore this and said, "Why is Percy wearing his prefect badge during the summer? No wonder Fred and George make fun of him so much."

James snorted. "Prat. Molly keeps setting his kids up against each other. Ginny, too. Ron got Charlie's old wand – it's probably a hand-me-down from another relative –, but Ginny of all people gets her own? I know she's the youngest and only girl, but that's favouritism."

"They're not flawless people, you know. Ron doesn't think before he speaks, and Molly is blinded by a crush on a celebrity."

"True." James ruffled his hair. "What's up with Hagrid anyway? Going down Knockturn and showing up randomly, and his being _friends_ with Harry and his lot is starting to get on me. He's a staff member. McGonagall likes us, but she doesn't regularly have us over for tea."

Sirius shrugged. "He's harmless. – Your turn to read, Moony."

Remus's heart sank as he read the title of the next chapter. This could mean that he'd soon make an appearance in the book or not, but either way, he assumed that something he wouldn't like was going to happen. "'The Whomping Willow,'" he read out, with a dry throat. "'The end of summer vacation came too quickly for Harry's liking.'"


	22. The Whomping Willow

I'm so sorry for this being two days late! Honestly I didn't like what I did with the first four chapters of CS, and the later ones weren't doing it for me either. I decided to rewrite them, which meant I had to delay this. I'm probably not going to go back and redo the others, but the next couple might be late too.

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><p><strong>Chapter 22: The Whomping Willow<strong>

"'He grinned too.'" Remus breathed a mental sigh of relief. Sure he hadn't shown up in this chapter, which meant he still had no idea where anybody was, but Harry and Ron weren't _damaged_ by the experience, only shocked and in trouble.

Admittedly the Marauders had never done anything bad enough to get reported upon in the _Daily Prophet_, let alone an evening edition, but Remus doubted that they would be expelled even if Snape was out for them more than ever. There were five more books left, and they'd be at Hogwarts in them all, presumably, unless things took a very strange turn.

Sirius shook his head, but he was grinning. "How dull do things have to get if the _Prophet_ is running evening editions because some muggles spotted a flying car? The last one, they ran it because six whole families had gotten killed up in Derbyshire."

"Did they run one last year when Harry fought off Voldemort?" James wondered.

"They couldn't have. You'd think that people would have mentioned it to Harry when he was at Diagon Alley."

"Odd. Didn't the kids tell their parents when they went home for the summer?"

Remus ran his fingers over the cover. "I don't think that anyone knows he faced off with Voldemort except Dumbledore and Ron and Hermione. Didn't Dumbledore say that everyone in school knew what had happened between him and _Quirrell?_"

James grabbed the _Philosopher's Stone_ from the stack of books and skipped to the last few pages. "Yeah, Dumbledore says, 'between you and Professor Quirrell.' Why isn't he going around warning people that Voldemort's come back?"

"He probably wants to keep things quiet for Harry's sake, _and_ it would most likely cause a public panic," Remus reasoned.

"Stupid reasons."

Remus let it go.

Sirius had other minutiae to fixate on. "Snape isn't much improved in this book. His first appearance, and he starts threatening twelve-year-olds with expulsion and Azkaban and Ron's dad getting fired. He won't even hear them out!"

"I know I'm not reasonable when it comes to Snape," James added, nodding at Remus because Remus had brought it up only a million times, "but I like to think that I'd treat a kid of his decently. Even if he did look like a miniature Snape."

Sirius snorted. "Poor kid."

"Is it really that? Sure he treats Harry even worse than he treats the others, but look at how he treats Neville and Hermione! They've done nothing wrong to him, and I bet he bullies all of the other students too." Remus exhaled sharply. "How can anyone treat _children_ like he does? And he keeps his job!"

"Dumbledore's mad."

James ran his hand through his hair. "If we keep complaining about Snape _and_ he sticks around, we're never going to get through these books. I say we start saying 'Snape' and moving on unless it's something particularly noteworthy."

"Good idea," Remus agreed.

Sirius nodded reluctantly. Then he said, "One thing you can say for Snape, he makes McGonagall look _doting_ in comparison. She even smiles at Harry for thinking of Gryffindor's points."

"She's always been fair."

"Yeah, and they're good kids. Ron asks about Ginny before thinking about the fact that he's bleeding." James beamed like he was face-to-face with Ron himself.

"They should have sent Hedwig with a message, though."

"Shut it, Moony."

"Well, they should've, _Padfoot._ They got into this trouble because they didn't think, and I know they're capable of it. They both have good instincts, usually."

"They're not showing them off in this chapter, though, are they? Ron's plan is downright daft for a chess prodigy, and Harry hasn't thought of changing galleons into, what's-its, _pounds_ in a year of knowing that he's got a fortune." James frowned at the book. At his future son. "He reminds me of Percival, y'know, in the Arthur stories?"

"The Grail Knight?" Remus blinked.

"His mum raised him to never ask questions, so he never asked who the Grail served and that's the Maimed King didn't get healed until Galahad showed up."

Remus had never suspected the Potters of being Arthuriana fans, but somehow it made sense that James would know those stories while Sirius looked elegantly bemused. "It's a good point, actually. This whole car situation is a mess."

"I blame you for the Whomping Willow, mate," Sirius said.

Remus held up his hands. "Guilty as charged. I can't be blamed for Ron's wand snapping or for the car gaining sentience, however."

"S'fair cop."

James took the book from Remus. "Why did the barrier close right then? It _doesn't_ close till the end of the day because of the parents hanging around to gossip. And probably because of students running late."

Sirius shrugged. "We'll find out. What's this next chapter called?"

"'Gilderoy Lockhart'," James read out, and Sirius's nose wrinkled and Remus's mouth drew tight. "'The next day, however, Harry barely grinned once.'"


	23. Gilderoy Lockhart

Has FFN been acting odd for anyone except me these past day or two? It was like all the stories had disappeared for a while. Anyhow...

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 23: Gilderoy Lockhart<strong>

"'"He _says_ he's done," Ron muttered.' You know, our Ron is a clever lad. I'm thinking he might be right about Lockhart."

Sirius agreed. "We certainly haven't heard anything about him, and he has to be our age or a bit older. Someone who defeat dark creatures as often as he claims to do would've gotten some attention at Hogwarts."

"Maybe he's a late bloomer," Remus suggested because he felt obliged to. He certainly didn't _believe_ it. "But those Cornish Pixies... What adult wizard can't handle Cornish Pixies? He can't teach, and he harasses his students."

"Sprout should've hexed him."

Remus snorted. "If only to keep him away from Harry. I want to reach into the book and hit him every time he comes near Harry."

"I'd like to see that," Sirius said sincerely. "Have we ever had a decent Defence teacher?"

"Pupp, our second year," James said. The elderly witch had been a good professor until her sudden death right before exams. The OWL and NEWT students had experienced a strange, collective panic attack before Dumbledore himself took over their revisions.

"Right, her. Y'know, I'm surprised at Hermione. I thought she was too clever to fall for this sort of nonsense."

"She's twelve," Remus said. He'd had weirder crushes.

"Fair. What's Colin's excuse?"

"He's _eleven._"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and most people can't talk in front of their crushes. Colin follows Harry around with a camera and chatters at him. There's crushes, and there's crushes, Moony. Hermione's always eager to please when it comes to professors, but Colin isn't going around taking photos of, dunno, _Ginny_."

James got bored of this talk of crushes, probably because he had learned yesterday that he would marry the first girl he had ever fancied, and changed the subject. "Malfoy's still up to no good, I see. Can't expect that will change soon."

"I never imagined how much the other students paid attention to Howlers. Surely there has to be a better way of scolding your children from a distance without bringing attention to them, and your family problems, in the Great Hall." Remus had never gotten a Howler, only a sternly worded letter (sometimes including, _"We'll talk when you're home for the holiday"_) now and then.

James shrugged. "I never minded."

Sirius snorted. "That requires the sender to think, and Walburga's never done that a day in her life if she could get Kreacher to do it for her. Shame Molly Weasley isn't more concerned about her son doing magic with a _broken wand,_ but..."

Remus didn't protest that they couldn't afford one. Sirius couldn't understand, so it was always a waste of breath. "I wonder what's the deal with the Mandrakes. We only find out what Harry's learning in class if it matters somewhere down the line."

"Remus –"

"_I know._ Still, whoever wrote this, whether it is a work of fiction or not, put thought into what they wrote. We're not getting the minutes of Harry's time at Hogwarts, we're getting the highlights. And Mandrakes are in the highlights."

James handed the book over to Sirius. "Here, mate. Hopefully there's no Malfoy in this, and no Justin Finch-Fletchley. Why did you never warn us there were twits in the muggle world, Remus?"

"I thought it was obvious."

Sirius hesitated when he saw the title of the next chapter. "This doesn't look too good. 'Mudbloods and Murmurs. Harry spent a lot of time over the next few days dodging out of sight whenever he saw Gilderoy Lockhart coming down a corridor.'"


	24. Mudbloods and Murmurs

**Chapter 24: Mudbloods and Murmurs**

"'"I don't get it either."' Can't your son have a normal life, Prongs? First he has to deal with being famous, and now he's hearing voices. _Murderous_ voices."

James shrugged.

"This chapter really drives home the whole fame thing," Remus said. "Lockhart makes Harry answer his fanmail –" ("the git," Sirius muttered) "– and Colin's following Harry around like a stalker. _Lockhart's_ following Harry around like a stalker."

Even Hagrid wouldn't speak well of Gilderoy Lockhart, and he wouldn't let Harry, Ron, and Hermione talk badly about _Snape._ How bad of a professor do you have to be for _Hagrid_ to speak ill of you?

James shook his head disapprovingly. "I'm really not liking Colin Creevey. Is he trying to make Harry miserable? Following him to Quidditch and listening for his name in the dorms..."

"Sounds like what you do to Evans," Sirius commented, and it was lucky that he had the book in his hands or James would have thrown it at him. And hit him too, thanks to his years as a Chaser. (It was a shame that James didn't have the book right then, really.) Sirius ignored this, however. "Say what you will about Ginny Weasley, but at least she isn't bothering Harry all the time. She just can't talk in front of him. Better he end up with her than Colin."

"He's _twelve._"

"He won't be forever, Moony. – Wanna talk Quidditch, James?"

"I always want to talk Quidditch, even if Wood makes me seem normal in comparison. Can't believe they fielded a team without a Seeker last year, though. Couldn't they put anyone on a broom and tell them to do their best, at the least?"

"Probably for the same reason they almost yield the pitch to the Slytherins. I don't think that Wood is too bright. Snape's note doesn't count for anything when he got permission from Madam Hooch."

"_Snape._"

They all nodded in agreement.

"At least it gave Hermione a chance to shine, calling out Malfoy for buying his way onto the team." Remus had the feeling that he was going to like the girl more and more as they read on.

"Yeah, she's growing on me." James's smile morphed into a scowl. "I can't believe what Malfoy did! Bigotry aside, who's stupid enough to go around calling people slurs right in front of at least fourteen witnesses?"

"_Snape._"

Remus wrinkled his nose at the reminder of what had happened after the Defence OWL. "He was even worse, he did it to his only friend."

"He's got Mulciber and Avery now," Sirius said snidely.

"If those three are friends, I'll eat my hat. They're just in a mutual torture collective."

"The Junior Death Eaters."

"Young Dark Wizards of the United Kingdom."

James grinned as they joked, probably pleased that they were getting along for the first time in months. Which reminded Remus that he wasn't supposed to get along with Sirius.

"Poor Ron," he said instead. "He does need a new wand, doesn't he? Give me the book, Sirius. It's my turn."

"Here you go, mate."

Remus cleared his throat. They would need to stop soon for lunch, and they should take the opportunity to bring up a jug of water. "'The Deathday Party. October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle.'"


End file.
